The New Generation: Shinobis
by MaverickBuff
Summary: Trouble is brewing within the country of Fire, and Hiroshi's allies from the Sand and Grass will have to step up as well to lend a hand in the up-coming crisis that threatens to crumble Konoha as they know it, bringing on a full-scale civil war. Part 2
1. Prologue: Comrade Reunion

_Note: This story is a sequel to 'The New Generation: Students'. _

**Prologue: Comrade Reunion**

It was another ordinary day in Konoha, just a regular day for Suzuki Hiroshi, who took a stroll towards the administrative office. He had completed his latest mission, which was to guard an important merchant in-charge of trade in the southern port several kilometers east of Konoha. The mission was completed without a hitch, and the client had paid them handsomely for their services. Right now, he was going to report the mission to the Hokage-sama, and take a break for the day.

" I told you, damn it, you should have left him to me. I was more than capable enough to handle that bandit! You were stealing my fun, and I take that personally!" a loud, brash female voice exclaimed, ringing right though to his ear drums.

Not that he was going to have any peace with Sora around anyway.

His Leaf teammates were with him, having done the mission together. Sato Ryouta merely shrugged his shoulders and chuckled to himself, too used to his teammates kind of behavior, which actually further infuriated Tanaka Sora, the female of the team, the epitome of tom boyishness. After slightly more than three years together, somethings just never changed amongst them: Sora bring loud and rude, Ryouta being carefree and non-chalant, and Hiroshi being reserved and mediator of the group.

" Say something, Hiroshi!" Sora exclaimed.

Hiroshi gave a thumbs up sign towards Ryouta before saying " Good job Ryouta. It's the sixth time you infuriated her at random today." Ryouta chuckled once more, and Hiroshi got a slap on the head for siding with him.

Three years while in their teenage years had caused quite a lot of change amongst themselves. Sora was now the tallest amongst the three of them, having reaching her growth spurt faster than the two boys. For the ease of moving around, and suiting her style of fighting, Sora wore significantly less clothing on her body than she did before. She had a short, almost sleeveless cotton jacket over a tank top vest, and short jeans. Fingerless gloves and bandages were a must for her on her hands always, especially the damage she usually dishes out with her devastating Sound taijutsu techniques. Being boys, both Hiroshi and Ryouta also managed to appreciate all the extra curves that came along with females hitting puberty. Sora had a lithe, firm and slim body, no ugly bulging muscles from all the taijutsu training she did. Ryouta and Hiroshi had to agree that Sora was really attractive, or hot would be the most suitable word to describe her now. Her silver coloured hair was short and spiky as per usual, but she now had some bangs hanging down her right side of her face, partially covering her eyes.

Still, despite the more feminine exterior she displayed now, her attitude did not change. The last time Hiroshi commented that she looked sexy she responded by attempting to beat the crap out of him.

Sato Ryouta was fairly tall for his age, but still much shorter than Sora. He didn't bother too much about his hair this time, allowing it to grow several centimeters longer but not enough to look messy. He was the only one amongst the three of them who opted to wear the standard Leaf shinobi vest, which he wore over a thick cotton shirt. His three quarter long cargo pants had several pockets on them, but they were empty most of the time. He had quite an athletic build, although Sora would beat him flat in a competition of stamina and speed. His elemental jutsus and manipulation was second to none, and was slated to get a promotion from his current chuunin rank some time in a few months time.

Still, Ryouta was very modest and humble, despite being of such stature and rank. It only made Hiroshi admire him even more.

Hiroshi, who was probably a late bloomer, was the shortest amongst the whole lot, by at least 4 inches. Hiroshi wore a custom made cotton vest he made himself, usually coloured blue. He carried multiple packs with him, an oval shaped backpack over his back with straps going around his left shoulder and bottom right side. He had a pouch in front of him, along with three more on his back and several leather containers, all containing his puppets, puppetry tools, and medical equipment. Hiroshi opted to learn a little bit of medical jutsus and skills to further supplement his team, and his skills have come in handy in multiple situations. He also carried a variety of puppets in his arsenal, along with his old, custom made weapon launchers, although he is limited to controlling a certain number of puppets only. In short, he had become what Sora wanted him to be: the team's chef (since he was the only 'domesticated' shinobi in their team, not to mention coming from a family who owns a restaurant), medic (with his medical skills and equipment) and weapon supplier (keeping extra weapons in his scrolls.)

" Geez, keep quiet, you moron. I can't even have some peace and quiet here. I'm so tempted to smuggle out some tranquilizers from the hospital supply. Come to think of it, I could make one for my own use," Hiroshi sighed.

" Keep your heads up, Hiroshi. She's here to stay," Ryouta laughed.

" Damn right!" Sora replied.

The three of them walked on towards the administrative building where the Hokage's office was located without further ado. They took a relatively quiet route, carefully chosen so that Sora wouldn't need to walk through the commercial district, least she started to get hungry and demand that the guys pay for her snacks, which were not small in volume or price.

" Greetings," someone suddenly replied.

All three of them turned around, only to see a figure standing behind them, wearing a cloak with a hood over her face, covering most of her face. Hiroshi raised his eyebrows, wondering who this girl was. A quick look told him that she was probably his age, most likely. She threw her hood back, and Hiroshi, and the rest of them, recognised her at once.

" Suzumi!" Hiroshi exclaimed excitedly when he saw his Sand comrade and close friend.

It had been almost two years since they met with each other, the last meeting being the Chuunin Select Exam which they took part in together. Nagato Suzumi greeted them with her usual warm, gentle smile, with a look Hiroshi fell for. She had shortened her hair since the last time, now up to her neck and tied in a ponytail behind her back. Still, either her growth spurt had not reach yet, since she was still shorter than Hiroshi. She wore a sleeveless leather vest over her cotton shirt beneath the cape, and long pants, with a thin cotton jacket tied around her waist. Like Hiroshi, since she was a medical ninja as well, she had multiple packs around her sides, all to store her equipment, much larger than Hiroshi's, since a majority of his packs were used to store weapons instead.

" Head's up!" someone else yelled, but after seeing Suzumi, the voice sounded familiar to Hiroshi somehow.

Sora spun around, just in time to catch a staff from smashing into her face. The staff wasn't actually a staff, but the butt end of a spear, which was wielded by none other than Gendou Hibiki. He grinned as Sora snarled fiercely at him as he exchanged a blow with her.

" Good, it seems that your reflexes have not dulled since the last we met. But I wonder if you brain size has decreased inversely proportional to the size of your breasts," Hibiki laughed, snickering as he jumped back, pulling the spear with him.

" Crude punk, what the heck do you think you are talking about?" Sora snarled, cracking her knuckles menacingly.

" Least you have boobs now, at least people will know you are female despite that tomboyish attitude of yours," Hibiki replied, grinning at all of them while slinging his spear on his shoulders. " See, Suzumi, Sora's got bigger boobs than you now. I told you all that dieting would make your breast and butt size smaller than the average gorilla here."

" I absolutely do not diet!" Suzumi said, pouting as she stomped her foot childishly.

Hibiki's crude, sarcastic and chauvinistic sense of humour didn't seem to dissipate over the years, but there was a time when he hated the three Leaf shinobi with a passion, so this was much of a relief. Hibiki had attained quite a build now, his muscles obviously bulging from the amount of tough training he has been through. He has also gained some height, but not much, and his muscles made him look slightly stocky. Just like Sora, he dressed light this time, having a simple sleeveless shirt and short pants. He still kept two weapon holsters on the left and right thighs, although Hiroshi has noted that he never actually uses any shurikens or kunais at all, so having an extra pack from the standard issue seemed rather useless. His dark green hair seem to have turned a shade darker, or Hiroshi's eyes were playing tricks on him, and they were combed back, looking like some mane of sorts. Several extra scars on his body only made him much more fiercer than he used to look, accentuating his gangster-like features, although the grinning face did a lot to soften the harshness on his face.

" It's great to see all of you again!" Ryouta exclaimed, smiling. " But where is Makoto? Shouldn't he be with you?"

" Well, tell us where do you think he is?" Suzumi asked teasingly, as if they were playing a game.

Ryouta raised an eyebrow, before patting his hand on something invisible next to them. All of a sudden, a figure appeared right in the middle of where Sora, Hiroshi and Ryouta were standing, making Hiroshi and Sora jump slightly.

" Don't scare me like that!" Sora shouted.

" Kisurugi Makoto at your service," Makoto said, snapping into a cocky salute.

" So, you have mastered the Camouflage Concealment Technique, have you?" Ryouta asked.

" It's not exactly perfect, if you could still figure out where I am," Makoto said, smiling warmly at them.

" Then again, I'm not your normal shinobi, no?" Ryouta replied.

" True, so true," Makoto replied good-naturedly.

" What a self-jacker..." Sora mumbled under her breath.

Makoto was the tallest amongst all of them, even against Sora. He wore the typical standard issue Sand armour plate with long pants, simple but still functional. He apparently now wore additional arm guards on his arm, along with gloves. He seemed to have done away with his weapon holster, possibly keeping everything in the pack he had on the back of his belt. Like they always knew, his forehead protector, unlike the rest of them where they were displayed proudly on their foreheads, was placed over his eyes. This was to cover he almost useless diseased eyes. Hiroshi had seen his eyes on two occasions: once when he did show him, and once more during the finals of the Chuunin exam when he used it on him, or more exactly, one of his puppets. Even if it was not direct, Hiroshi could feel the fear he could project with his eyes, using fear inducing genjutsu. Makoto had a cold, hard inner exterior, just like Hibiki, and somehow, he was glad they were allies, not enemies.

" It's great to see all of you here. How'd you all manage to make it?" Ryouta asked.

" We asked Temari-sensei to pull some strings. Currently, we are here on an overseas mission to send some stuff around, but it will take some days for any processing and administrative stuff to be taken care off, so we sort of have a short holiday here, compliments from Kazekage-sama," Hibiki replied as Suzumi went around to hug all her Leaf comrades in turn.

" But it's not like I'm happy to see 'you'," Sora replied scornfully as Suzumi gave her a hug as she pointed a finger rudely at Hibiki.

" Yeah, yeah..." Hibiki muttered.

" How have you all been doing all these years?" Hiroshi asked excitedly. It had been indeed a long time since they had last seen their Sand comrades, and he was eager to share some quality time with them.

" Not bad..." Hibiki said, coming over and grabbing Hiroshi by throwing his arm around his neck to restrain him as he ruffled his already messy hair with his free hand. He was the only Leaf shinobi who was close enough to fool around with Hibiki. " Things have been stagnant since you idiots left, but I can't really complain. Least the chuunin missions are fairly decent than the boring rubbish they gave us as genins."

" Speak for yourself," Sora replied.

" Can't you at least sound happy for once?" Ryouta sighed, giving a tired smile at her.

" I could care less about the guys, but I'm glad my lovely Suzumi is here," Sora replied, pecking Suzumi's cheek slightly while the two girls giggled slightly. " Least Makoto is decent to look at, unlike the ugly mug here."

Hibiki stepped forward towards her, releasing Hiroshi from his grip, and stared hard at Sora right in the face, squaring up towards her. " My skills have increased by a few notches since the last time we squared off. You better be prepared, or else you will be eating the dust this time," Hibiki said.

" Pathetic. I've gone way more than several notches. You'd be eating the floor with my foot on your head in no time. I'll be nice and give you some time to think about it before I humiliate you," Sora said, cracking her knuckles. " I haven't forgotten the last time you nudged my bottom, in public no less. I have a score to settle."

" Too bad, our next spar will put me another score higher," Hibiki laughed in her face.

" Really? I was under the impression that your score was actually lagging behind mine," Sora replied, snarling at him.

" Why can't we get together and not have you two flunkies trash-talk one another for once?" Hiroshi sighed.

" Don't mind them. Birds of a feather flock together," Makoto said.

" Standing here trash-talking is also pointless. We have a report to hand in to our Hokage-sama. Why don't you guys tag along, and we will see what we can do about it? A joint mission would be fun, if she'd allow it," Ryouta suggested.

All of them agreed to his suggestion.


	2. Chapter 1: Mission Request

**Chapter 1: Mission Request**

" So, I take it you all dealt with the problem swiftly and there will be no problems?" the female sitting behind the Hokage's desk asked, leaning back on her chair as Hiroshi gave her the report on the mission, including all the details and problems that occurred. The three Leaf-nins nodded their heads together while their Sand compatriots looked from behind them. " Well then, excellent work. I knew I could count on you three. I'll get Shizune to file the report, but other than that, you are done for now. I'll contact all of you if I have anything else."

" Hey, I thought your Hokage-sama was an old, 60 plus year old lady? Why am I looking at a young, 30 plus year old lady who is too young to even be my mother, with great looks, pretty blonde hair and breasts the size of Sora's head?" Hibiki whispered into Hiroshi's ear. Ryouta chuckled while Suzumi nudged Hibiki painfully in the ribs for saying such a crude comment and Sora glared at with with an expression that could kill.

" She is 60. She just...doesn't want to look that way, so she uses some henge jutsu to hide her true self," Hiroshi whispered back.

" Ew..." Hibiki muttered, making Suzumi nudge him painfully in the ribs once more, plus a stinging pinch to his gut.

" Hey, old lady, I've got a request," Sora said, stepping up, thumbing her chest.

" Oh really?" Tsunade asked.

Hiroshi and Ryouta almost did a double-take immediately. She didn't show it outwardly, but there was this dark aura that surrounded her all of a sudden as she looked at them, narrowing her eyes slightly while keeping a straight smiling face at them. Hiroshi could almost imagine her veins popping. It was the truth that she was old, but the last thing she liked to be reminded was how old she was, and her patience was about paper thin on most occasions. It was rumoured that she was able to smash a castle to bits just using one hand and one punch. He found that a bit hard to believe, but then again, it wasn't something he'd like to find out personally. This was always a problem with Sora, since she never addressed people politely, without their titles nor used any honourifics.

Before Sora could say anything else, Ryouta grabbed her and pulled her back a few steps while Hiroshi immediately closed her mouth to prevent her from speaking any further. " What she meant, Hokage-sama, was that since our friends from the Sand will be here for a while, and since they will be quite willing to help out, we were hoping to get a joint mission where we can work together, with your permission, of course. We hope that you could get that sort of mission for us."

Tsunade's mood lightened up slightly. " I personally have no problems, and I doubt Kazekage Gaara will have any real problems with that. If any sort of mission comes up, you'll be the first to be notified," she replied.

" Thank you, Hokage-sama," Suzumi replied, bowing. Tsuande merely waved her hand and smiled, signaling them to leave. The six of them trooped out of the room quickly, shutting the door behind them quietly.

" Alright, it's party time! I suggest we eat a smashing Steamboat meal! I know just the place," Sora said as soon as they were out of the office.

" You do know you are paying for this, right?" Makoto said, patting her on the shoulder.

" Then again, the local hawker shops are pretty good anyway. Let's go to Hiroshi's place and get a good price," Sora replied.

" Hey, what's with this stingy attitude?! We're visitors, so you pay...and I'm not going to eat some crap food now that I've traveled so far to the Fire country," Hibiki snarled. As expected, the two of them immediately squared up to one another.

" Don't they ever stop?" Makoto asked, laughing.

Ryouta wasn't really paying attention to the conversation, or argument, depending on how you see it. As they were walking out of the administrative building, Ryouta noticed Hiroshi and Suzumi were following them at some distance, keeping together. He merely chuckled as he saw them talking amongst each other, with Hiroshi blushing and Suzumi giggling.

" I'm...sorry about the other time..." Hiroshi replied, sheepishly scratching his head.

" No need to apologise. I'd glad that you did what you did anyway. Besides, you apologised the last time, and through all the letters that you sent, and I said it was alright anyway," Suzumi replied.

" Well...I just wanted to say it again...personally..." Hiroshi replied.

" Don't worry, I'm not the kind of female to hold grudges," Suzumi replied, giggling.

" Well...I'm glad to hear that..." Hiroshi mused, shooting a furtive glance at Sora, who was still arguing with Hibiki on where to eat.

Hiroshi was referring to the previous Chuunin Select Exam finals, where they all battled it out against one another. Both of them were set up for a match, and Suzumi made Hiroshi promise that he will take her seriously as an opponent and not to hold back, and Hiroshi did his best to keep his promise. Thus, the resulting effect was Suzumi spent the next week in the hospital with a broken arm and several broken ribs, and Sora kicking Hiroshi and berating him on being violent to women.

" Hey, what are you two lovebirds doing behind our backs?" Sora muttered rudely.

" What?! We aren't doing anything," Hiroshi replied defensively.

" Let them be, Sora. They've wanted to go on a date, and that has been put off for three years now. We can let them be for a while," Makoto replied.

Hiroshi was glad at Makoto's comment, but Sora was far from done. She did a body flicker technique and appeared right in between the two of them, dropping her arms around their shoulders. " Now, now, I know you two want to be lovey-dovey and all that, but come on, we all just got together, so why don't we spend some quality time as friends first, eh? You can snuggle up somewhere cosy in a couple of days later," Sora suggested, leering at them.

Suzumi looked away, slightly embarrassed, but Hiroshi looked irritated. Not that he didn't expect it, but Sora did ruin the mood.

" But where are we going to eat?" Hibiki asked.

" Damn it, I thought we already discussed this already!" Sora exclaimed.

Hiroshi walked up and stepped between them. " No more arguments, alright? We will eat at my place, and I will cook. Any further arguments can be directed to me, the chef, and I will be happy to add extra 'ingredients' to suit your tastes," he replied.

" Can you cook well enough?" Hibiki asked, raising an eyebrow.

" Didn't you know? Hiroshi has talent," Suzumi said.

" Comment when you have tasted my food, alright?" Hiroshi said, leading the way.

All of them followed, but Makoto and Ryouta lagged behind slightly, keeping a distance between the group this time. " Not that I mean anything, do you think it will work out? Between Hiroshi and Suzumi, I mean," Ryouta asked.

Makoto merely gave him a warm smile. " Statistically, only 20 percent of teenage puppy love really last, and being of different villages, I would say that percentage drops to less than 0.1. Still, Hiroshi and Suzumi are my best friends, and I would say we can wait and see. If Shikamaru-sama and Temari-sensei can work it out, perhaps they can," Makoto answered calmly.

Ryouta merely nodded his head and continued along their way.

-

" Wow!"

There was a great sound of exclamation coming from the table as Hiroshi laid down the large, massive plate he carried, displaying a great, colourful collection of sushi and sashimi selection he had prepared. There was a multitude of raw fish, along with a excellent selection of seafood to top it all off. Hiroshi took off his apron and breathed a sigh of relief, having finished preparing the extravagant meal in less than 20 minutes.

" Wow, you really outdid yourself this time," Ryouta replied.

" Well, I have to. Us Leafs cannot look bad in front of our Sand compatriots, even if it something as trivial as cooking," Hiroshi replied proudly.

" Geez, if you could fight as well as you cook," Hibiki sighed sarcastically.

" What the hell are you talking about?! My cooking skills are a testament to my puppetry skills," Hiroshi replied. Seeing the odd, perplexed looks on the rest of their faces, he continued by saying " Come now, you didn't think I could prepare a meal for 6 within just the span of 18 minutes, all by myself, did you?"

It still didn't really register, but Suzumi was the first one to think of it. " Wait, do you mean that you used your puppets to help you prepare sushi?" Suzumi asked.

" Of course. How'd you think I finished it so fast?"

There was a moment of silence, but only for 3 seconds, before all of them started to burst out with loud laughter, some of them banging the table loudly for an added effect.

" What the fuck is wrong with all of you?! Was it that funny, making my puppets cut fish?!" Hiroshi demanded, sounding vexed. This didn't stop them in the least, and they laughed even harder. It was indeed quite hilarious to imagine several wooden marionettes moving around in the kitchen handling knives and cutting fish.

" Nothing…nothing…it's just…" Makoto tried to speak, before falling back into laughter.

" Hmm, you sure brought back a lively bunch tonight, Hiroshi," a feminine voice replied.

The rest of them suddenly kept quiet when the voice spoke. A middle aged lady stood next to the entrance of the dining hall, looking a little messy, but with a welcoming smile on her face. Suzumi spotted her eyes matching Hiroshi's, and deduced that she was Hiroshi's mom.

" Ah, mom, sorry about the whole get together. I was only informed of their arrival today," Hiroshi said, scratching his head sheepishly. " Suzumi, Makoto, Hibiki, this is my mom."

" So," she said, walking up to the table. " You must be the Sand shinobis Hiroshi speak off."

Hibiki and Makoto was a little afraid of whether the smile she had on her face was a façade or not. Despite having an alliance, some members of the Leaf and Sand still held hatred towards their former enemies, and this didn't apply to just shinobi, but the general population in general, since the common people also suffered losses at the event of a war. Chances were higher that the older generation was not that forgiving, their Hokage Tsunade-sama a very small exception. Hibiki and Makoto wondered if Hiroshi's mom hated them in secret.

However, Suzumi didn't seem to care, or didn't really take these things into heart. She stood up and bowed slightly. " Yes we are. Sorry to intrude in your premises so abruptly, but Hiroshi's cooking is something we cannot miss out upon," she replied cheerfully.

Hiroshi's mom laughed slightly at the comment. " Indeed. Too bad he isn't taking over our restaurant when he comes of age, but then again, I must respect his decision in whatever he wants to do. I do hope that you will take care of him, since he's a little clumsy and weak," she replied, patting her son on her head.

Hiroshi looked aside, avoiding the gazes of his friends. Ryouta, Hibiki and Makoto could sense that he was slightly annoyed at his mother embarrassing him in front of his friends, but was too filial to openly object to her affections.

Sora stood up suddenly and exclaimed. " Ma'am, you don't need to worry about Hiroshi! I've taken care of him or the last 6 years, and will always do so for the rest of my breathing life!" she exclaimed.

" Yes, Sora, I know that. With you and Ryouta around, I don't have to worry too much," Hiroshi's mom replied. " Sit down and eat with your friends, Hiroshi. I will get you all some nice, hot green tea to go with your meal." With that, she left the table, and headed towards the kitchen.

" Wow, your mom's very nice," Hibiki replied, grinning. Ryouta and Makoto chuckled at the remark. Hiroshi could only smile in return. He knew full well the three other guys were orphans, one way or another, and seeing Hiroshi's mother being so cheerful and caring for her son probably made them slightly jealous.

However, his mom's voice interrupted them once more, her voice coming from the kitchen. " Hiroshi, what did I say about leaving your wooden puppets all over the kitchen?" she asked, although she didn't really sound annoyed.

" Well, one of the perks of having my mom around," Hiroshi said, shrugging his shoulders as he walked off towards the kitchen as his friends roared with laughter again.

-

" I'm stuffed..." Sora replied, sighing contentedly.

" Of course you are. I'm actually surprised at the amount of food you eat," Hibiki replied.

Sora merely glared at him contemptuously. Even if they do recognise each other as comrades, Sora and Hibiki still never got along too much, and they sort of shared this mutual tension they shared always, although this mainly came from Sora's part, since Hibiki usually annoyed her because he liked it, and it served him as an all-round purpose entertainment. Hiroshi wasn't sure if it was jealousy, rivalry, or some obscure reason, or that she really needed to see a psychiatrist.

This was the reason why they were seated opposite each other on the round table which they feasted upon.

" Well, I must admit, it was a fantastic meal...puppet-made, of course..." Makoto replied, saying the last words in a snigger. Hiroshi frowned at them as they all chuckled under their breaths.

" It's a bit late now, so I guess it would be better to show you around town some other time, perhaps tomorrow. I beat you guys are tired, especially having traveled for some time now, and with all the blood now absent from our brains and in our guts. So, how about we take a break for the night? Where are you all staying?" Ryouta asked.

" Well, nearby inns, I suppose?" Hibiki said, getting up and slinging his spear on his back once more.

" You could stay at our places," Ryouta suggested.

" What? Not to sound insulting or anything, but I don't think that you will have enough space to fit all of us. It's not like you have houses the size of Suzumi's...ouch, I was just making a point," Hibiki replied as Suzumi rapped him on the head hard.

" No, what Ryouta mean was you all could stay at 'our' places. Sora and my place isn't very large, and Ryouta stays at the apartment block by himself, so it mainly consists of a room for himself. But you all can stay at our places, not all at once, but all three of our places," Hiroshi replied.

" I see..." Makoto nodded.

" Alright!" Sora exclaimed, jumping over and grabbing Suzumi by her neck and hugging her, like some lovable teddy bear. " Suzumi's staying with me, cos I don't know what perverted things you guys might think of when you get alone with girls together," Sora replied. Hiroshi and Ryouta merely looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders.

" So, will you be going to Ryouta's place?" Hiroshi asked Makoto.

" Nope. I think I'll stay here," Makoto replied.

" Eh?" Hiroshi exclaimed.

" Do you have your reservations?" Makoto inquired, sounding confused.

" No...it's just that you and Ryouta usually stick together and discuss a lot of things...intellectual stuff together most of the time, so I thought you appreciate staying at his place," Hiroshi answered.

Makoto threw his arms around Hiroshi. " Hey, don't make me sound so snobbish. Perhaps we can have a intellectual discussion together this time, since I'm sure you picked up a few tricks this time around," Makoto replied.

" Guess you and me will be spending the night together, eh?" Hibiki replied, raising his eyebrows.

" Please don't make that sentence sound so gay," Ryouta replied with a funny look on his face.

-

Hiroshi opened the doors of his room and beckoned Makoto to enter. Makoto entered quickly and took a look around the room. He wasn't literally taking a look around the place, but merely listening to all the minute vibrations that would tell him what his room would look like. Hiroshi always thought it was amazing that Makoto was blind. It was sometimes hard to imagine that he actually was blind, the way he carried himself so easily around.

Hiroshi's room, like almost all boys room, was messy, but not messy enough to be considered dirty. There were notes and clothing everywhere, along with a desk and a bed. A small wardrobe was by the corner, and the wall next to it hung several pieces of paper. Makoto walked up to them and touched them with his fingers.

" So, you have been busy with making puppet contraptions? I see that your inventions are pretty innovative," Makoto replied.

" ...You peeked, didn't you?" Hiroshi replied after a while.

" No, honest, I didn't," Makoto replied, grinning at him.

" Care to tell me how you knew what was drawn?" Hiroshi asked.

" I simply infuse chakra at minute levels into the paper. The chakra will pass through the paper, and I'll pick up the signals when it responds with ink, or pencil marks. Thus, it sort of acts like a scanner, just like some tracking jutsus that use earth as a meduim to transfer chakra, but on a very small scale," Makoto replied.

" I see..."

" So, where am I sleeping?" Makoto asked, seeing only one bed.

Hiroshi suddenly flicked his fingers all of a sudden, and Makoto heard chakra strings being attached to his fingertips. One of his drawers shot open, and using the chakra strings, he took out a hammock and sling it along the wall, latching it to hooks on the ceiling. The hammock was done and ready within less than 5 seconds.

" You just had to do that to impress me, didn't you?" Makoto asked.

" Not really. You see, I didn't get any formal training, so I had to make up my own training. Thus, I used daily activities to practice my puppetry skills. It helps really, and I should say my chakra control has been perfected quite well," Hiroshi replied.

Makoto laughed, and Hiroshi joined in within the next second.

" My, you have changed, Hiroshi," Makoto said, walking up to the window and looking outside, or acting like he was looking outside.

" Hmm, changed?" Hiroshi asked, changing his tone, sounding surprised at the comment.

" You seem...a bit more bold now, and much more mature," Makoto replied. " When we met, I wouldn't have expected you to be able to yell as us earlier, but you do now."

" Sorry about that..."

" Don't need to apologise. I didn't mean it in a bad way," Makoto replied.

Silence soon fell upon them. Hiroshi never really spent time alone with Makoto, so perhaps they didn't know how to converse well, but Hiroshi didn't like the silence, so he decided to strike up something to talk about.

" So, I see you wear the standard issue Sand shinobi vest, eh? Is it comfortable?" Hiroshi asked.

" Oh this, quite comfortable actually, unlike what people might think. It actually has a lot of defensive capabilities. Mine is specially made with some very resilient material, forgot what they called it, but it's fairly effective at absorbing blunt force trauma and bladed weapons, and ninjutsu attacks to a minimal degree, and with some techniques of mine, I can further enhance their defensive capabilites" Makoto replied. " I'm not sure of this, but the Sand's are fairly strict on our dress code. I heard that the Leafs are fairly lax on your shinobi dress code."

" Fairly. They let up dress up as clowns if we want to," Hiroshi replied. " I find the vest cumbersome. I prefer my attire custom made."

" Apparently a lot of stuff you own is custom made," Makoto replied. " Must be kinda handy skill, being able to make all this stuff yourself."

" Nah, I mainly picked it up when I visited you guys and learned more puppet techniques," Hiroshi replied.

" Ryouta wears the standard issue vest though," Makoto replied.

" Ah...what a role model..." Hiroshi replied. Both of them broke into laughter once more, and Hiroshi decided that this was going to be a very long night which he would enjoy immensely.

-

" Well, welcome to my humble abode," Sora replied, pointing towards her house. It was a semi-detach house made up of two levels. Suzumi tagged along from behind as Sora entered. Her house seemed quiet, but perhaps Sora's parents were early sleepers. " Don't worry. I bring some friends over once in a while, my parents won't mind a bit."

Sora immediately headed upstairs, taking fours steps at a time, before coming up to her room at the end of the corridor. She kicked her door open, and bright light temporarily blinded Suzumi for a minute.

" Hey, we thought you wouldn't be showing up, sensei," a voice suddenly replied.

" Sorry, I got caught up with some business," Sora replied to whoever was inside the room. She placed her arm over Suzumi and pulled her closer inside. " My good friend from the Sand decided to drop by, and I just had to take are of her. I'm sure you all can understand that."

Suzumi was suddenly greeted by 4 other girls inside Sora's room, all of various ages, but noticeably younger than Sora or Suzumi. They all stood up, save for the youngest, who continued to sit on the floor, hugging her knees.

" Ah, hello! Maki here! What's your name?" the first girl asked, holding out her hand for Suzumi to shake.

" Ah...Suzumi..." Suzumi replied, shaking the hand warily, slightly taken aback.

" Ah, Sora-sama, you didn't say that you were having extra guests tonight," another with long curls replied.

" Sorry, Tamaki, she dropped in all of a sudden on me...not that it is a bad thing, of course," Sora quickly replied.

" Ah, you must be the Sand girl Sora talks about. We've heard a bit from you. I'm Saki. Nice to meet you," another girl replied, coming up to her and patting her on the shoulder.

" You didn't say that you were having other people over as well," Suzumi said, feeling a little out of place.

" Not really, they are sort of my former students..." Sora replied.

" What?!" Suzumi exclaimed loudly.

" Don't get her wrong. Sora works as a sort of tutor for the Ninja Academy, sort of like a part time job, and she teaches the students in classes once in a while when she has the time. The smaller age gap makes it easier to communicate with one another," Maki explained. " Sora likes to invite us over and she said we are free to come by if we want."

" Oh wow, I see. You never told me that," Suzumi replied.

" I may have...in passing..." Sora replied, scratching her head.

" Come now," Saki replied, pulling Suzumi into the middle of the room and allowing her to sit on a cushion on the floor. " Tell us more about the Wind country. We've never been there before!"

-

" What a crummy shithole..." Hibiki muttered.

" Sorry about that..." Ryouta replied, scratching his head sheepishly.

" Geez, it was a crude joke man, don't take it too seriously," Hibiki replied.

Ryouta's apartment block was fairly small, mainly because he stayed by himself and fed himself, so there was no real need for larger living quarters, although he could afford it. However, his room was much unlike what Hibiki would imagine it was. The place was an absolute mess, with paper, clothing, food and stuff thrown all over the floor. Hibiki doubted that he ever did mop his floor, and the place had a lot of sauce and coloured stains, either on the floor, ceiling, and walls. His bed was a pile of junk, with some small part of it enough to fit one person. It was essentially a King sized bed, but with all the junk on top, there was just enough room to fit one person in it.

" Geez, for a person of your character, I figured that you'd be cleaner than me," Hibiki replied. Suzumi has been said to comment that his room was much cleaner than hers, and she was female. Hibiki wasn't too sure what to say about that. The fact that he had the cleanest room amongst all six of them might just lower his manliness by a notch.

" Ah well, I live by myself, and discipline-wise, I'm much of a slacker, so you will have to excuse my messy room," Ryouta apologised.

" Where...exactly am I sleeping?" Hibiki asked.

Ryouta grabbed the sheets and flipped them with a great powerful tug. Hibiki raised an eyebrow as all the rubbish and junk that was on his bed was sent crashing to the floor, falling all over the place. " Here," Ryouta said, pointing to one side of the bed.

" Oh joy..." Hibiki sighed, before a thought occurred to him. " Wait, did Makoto chose to stay at Hiroshi's place on the sole basic that he knew your house was a mess?"

Ryouta merely grinned. " That lousy bugger! I'll get him tomorrow morning," Hibiki replied.

" That may not be necessary, since he might be dropping by tonight," Ryouta replied as he opened the window of his room and scaled the wall outside, climbing up to the roof. Hibiki remembered it at once. Ryouta always had this odd obsession about looking at the midnight sky. He wasn't sure what to say about it, whether he was crazy, strange or just downright out of his mind. Still, Ryouta always wore that expression of absolute calmness when he looked at the sky, as if he was getting some sort of artificial high. Still, it was a good excuse to not sleep in early, but without any parents around, that wasn't really a problem with them anyway.

" What do you mean?" Hibiki asked, looking out the window to see Ryouta standing horizontally on the wall.

" Hiroshi and Sora always come and keep me company during these times. I'm sure they will somehow managed to drag Suzumi and Makoto along somehow," Ryouta replied, as he climbed up towards the roof.


	3. Chapter 2: Joint Mission

**Chapter 2: Joint Mission**

" I actually find it surprising…" Suzumi said all of a sudden.

" What?!" Sora exclaimed, not too sure what Suzumi was blurting out all of a sudden.

" You teaching. I find it very surprising to see you take up a teaching position. Then again, looks can always be deceiving, so I guess it was hard to judge. It's also surprising that you seem to have a number of admirers, despite your age, but then again, looks are indeed deceiving," Suzumi said, giggling.

" Bah, nothing to it. They just fancy my tough régime and my good looks," Sora bragged, while Suzumi merely giggled at her attempt to look cool. " Where the hell are the boys anyway?! They are late, which equals to deadly severe punishment!"

Suzumi looked around. Both kunoichis were waiting at some street in the middle of the shopping district in the village of Konoha, where a multitude of people were walking about frequenting the shops that lined up along the street. Suzumi didn't recall any indication of Sora telling the boys that they would be meeting there, so she assumed that this was their own alloted meeting spot. Sora was impatiently tapping her foot while glaring all around her. Suzumi wondered how could see get upset over such simple things.

Suzumi took her time in looking around the village. It was vastly different from her own village in quite a lot of ways. It was probably remarkably less windy and sandy, obviously from the lack of a vast desert surrounding the city. Also, it was fairly colourful, and along with the lush greenery, it made her feel that her own village was very drab indeed. Quite a number of birds flew by, and Suzumi looked around fascinated at the sight of all the flying creatures above her head.

" Relax, we are here already!" a voice called out to them. Looking upwards, they saw Hiroshi and Makoto leap down from the top of one of the shop houses. Most of the villagers had gotten used to the shinobis who use their shops and homes to travel across the village, even if it wasn't really an emergency, so none of them bothered to look at them as they dropped down from above and landed in front of the two girls.

Hiroshi felt himself rise as Sora pinched his ear and pulled him upwards. " Do you have any idea what time it is?! You are very late!" she snarled.

" Give me a break! You said 8a.m. It's only 7.58a.m. on my watch now, which you calibrated!" Hiroshi exclaimed, wincing as Sora shook him slightly.

" Does this always happen?" Makoto asked.

" Some things rarely change, do they?" Ryouta's voice piped up. He was found hanging upside down a nearby tree next to them, along with Hibiki. Both of them hopped off and landed on the ground without a hitch.

" So, what's today's plan?" Hibiki asked.

" Well, since we are not on R&R, we usually head to the Hokage's office in the morning and check if she needs us for any missions. If there are any, she will notify us there, and if not, we will have the whole day free. Any emergencies will be notified using birds," Ryouta replied.

-

" You are in luck," Tsunade replied, smiling at them.

" Really?!" Sora exclaimed.

" I've got a report saying that there have been some bandits moving about south of the village, and some complaints have been given in to us as the local police were unable to deal with this problem. Since you all asked for a joint mission, I'm sending all six of you to check on the situation. Deal with the problem, and hand over the bandits to the local police to deal with, then come back. Should take a couple of days, but I'm sure you are all up for the job," Tsunade replied, before waving her hand. Her assistant, Shizune, who cradled a pig in her arms, held out a scroll for them to take. " All the details are in the scroll. You are to leave before noon."

Hiroshi raised his hands, and out shot several chakra strings, which went out and attached to the scroll Shizune had in her hands. Before she knew it, the scroll came flying out of her hands and into Hiroshi's. " Nice, thank you, Hokage-sama," he replied, grinning.

However, Tsunade suddenly jumped up from her seat and slammed her hands on her table, Shizune backing up slightly when she heard the table crack. " What did I tell you about taking things using that technique of yours?! Have you no manners?!" Tsunade yelled, her voice cracking.

Unfortunately, all six of them had already stormed out of the room before Tsuande even finished her sentence, their laughter echoing all around the exterior hallway of the office.

" Well, the scroll has a detailed map on where we need to head out towards. The raiding area of the bandits is around this area, so we are to head to this small village and check it out. Shouldn't really be a problem. I think Sora could probably handle it all by herself," Ryouta said after taking a look on the map.

" Do you think it is wise to go without restocking our equipment?" Hiroshi asked. All six of them had left the village within minutes after they had received their mission statement, scaling the tall walls that surrounded the village and bounded off towards the south of the forest area. " I mean, I'm always stocked, but shouldn't the rest of you have restocked your equipment? It's not like us Leafs are unwilling to share."

" Relax, Hiroshi," Hibiki replied. " We are always ready. Besides, we didn't really use much of our equipment when we came here, so there is no need to worry about it."

-

Sora lead the way, leaping from tree after tree with much energy and vigour, and the rest of them did their best to keep up, although nobody was really complaining that she was moving too fast. After traveling some distance, they had managed to reach the more flatter, grassy plains in the south, and Sora leaped off a tree and landed on the ground and continued their journey on foot.

" So, how have you been?" Suzumi asked.

" Huh?" Hiroshi mused. He had not realized that Suzumi had slowed down to travel by his side to talk to him.

" I was asking, how have you been?"

" Oh, nothing much…" Hiroshi mused.

" You two lovebirds better not be slowing down for a nice chat, alright?!" Sora's voice screamed from the front.

" Geez, what's her problem? We are way ahead of schedule, what's the damn rush?" Hiroshi groaned.

" Stop!"

All of them skidded to a halt when they reached a nearby stream surrounded by several small trees. Ryouta had issued them to halt, once again given status of commander of their six man squad, and they obeyed at once. Sora tensed up, wondering what was up all of a sudden to make Ryouta stop them all of a sudden. She looked around, hearing nothing but the swaying of the leaves flowing with the wind and the sound of running water nearby.

" We've made a lot of progress today. We'll stop here for a short break, have some food before we go on," Ryouta replied after a while.

" What?! Is that the reason why you ordered us to stop is because we have to take a break?!" Sora grunted.

" Come now, we haven't even had breakfast yet, so why don't we get something to eat before we move on? Also, as you know, Hiroshi has to do a lot of research on herbs and medicinal plants as a medic-nin, so this will be chance for him to do his stuff. It's not like this mission is of great priority anyway. You are being too harsh. Besides, we are almost there anyway," Ryouta responded as Sora started pouting. " Chef, your orders?"

" Alright! Makoto, you stay here and keep an eye on our camp. Hibiki, Sora, start a fire. Ryouta, Suzumi and me will go get some things to eat," Hiroshi ordered. The rest of them promptly agreed and spread out to deal with their respective jobs.

Suzumi, Ryouta and Makoto looked with slight fascination as Hiroshi professionally started to skin the two rabbits they found, taking off the fur and with his kunai, swiftly removing the bones from within, filleting the meat with relative ease. Once done, he washed off the blood and sliced the meat into small strips, tossing them inside the small pot which was boiling with roots, mushrooms and tons of spices Suzumi and Hiroshi managed to gather around the entire place. Their stomachs were rumbling as the aromatic smell started to float tantalizingly all around the campsite. As he dunked the last piece of meat into the pot, he started stirring it to allow it to cook.

" Damn, Hiroshi, I'm very impressed," Makoto replied as Hiroshi poured out some stew into a small bowl and handed it to Makoto. He sipped the boiling hot stew cautiously, licking his lips as he tasted the sweet, rich stew.

" See, I always knew that being the team cook would be useful," Sora replied, holding out her bowl, the second helping done before Suzumi and Hibiki had received theirs.

" Hmm…yeah, and sometimes I don't see you being very thankful most of the time," Hiroshi replied. It was at this point when Sora scooped him up with her arms and crushed him tight in a massive bearhug, picking him up as easily as she would pick up a large doll. " Alright, alright, I get your point! You are crushing me! Let me go…yeow!"

" Could you teach me some cooking tips? I would really like to cook as well, but I'm not as domesticated as you are," Suzumi asked as Hiroshi poured another bowl for Sora when she released him at last.

" Please don't use the word domesticated," Hiroshi pleaded as the rest of them laughed happily as he finished passing the bowls to the rest of them. He managed to scrap up whatever was left at the bottom of the bowl for himself, and finished his own meal in one large gulp, before taking out some of his rations to eat.

" Hey, why are you using your rations?" Sora exclaimed.

" Well, I'm too lazy to go out to look for more food, especially when you eat so much," Hiroshi replied, biting into the snack bar he had.

" Well yeah, sorry about that," Sora chuckled.

The rest of them laughed slightly, but Hiroshi frowned at that comment. He probably knew this was strange, but he somehow felt that Sora was acting a bit cold towards him. Sora was probably teasing him as usual, except there is no casual air around her this time, as if she had gotten stoic somewhat. Hiroshi wasn't sure what was her problem. It sure wasn't that time of the month yet. She still had at least 7 more days to go. Hiroshi found it weird that he even knew when she should be unstable on specifically which day of the month.

Hiroshi decided not to bother about it. Sora was sometimes just to tact for her own good, even if it does put him in a bad or precarious situation. He was quite sure there was an explanation for her behavior. He just probably is not interested in finding out what it is.

" Where exactly is this village?" Hibiki asked.

" Somewhere another 10 kilometers south of here," Ryouta replied, checking the map that was printed on the scroll once more. " Don't worry, it shouldn't take too far."

" South, eh? Is south in 'that' direction?" he asked, pointing his finger. The rest of them turned around to look at where he was pointing.

All of them got to their feet in an instant. There was no mistaking the trail of smoke rising up in a thin column some distance away. It was hard to gauge the distance, but Hiroshi figured it had just had to be the village they were heading towards. From the looks of the smoke, Ryouta figured that whatever that was causing the smoke just caused it recently.

" Hardly a coincidence. That's the direction we are suppose to head, and I bet the village is on fire," Makoto replied. " This is strange…perhaps something is up?"

" You've got to be kidding me…" Sora replied. " Why is it do we only get into a lot of trouble when we meet up with you guys?"

" Beats me," Hibiki replied. " I only spotted it a second ago."

" Guess we don't have time to waste," Ryouta replied. The rest of them nodded, and within seconds, packed their stuff and ran towards the direction of the smoke in an instant.

-

Ryouta lead the team this time, and he raised his hand as all of them skidded to a halt. They had managed to make it to the outskirts of the village, the column of smoke now one large massive pillar before them. Suzumi gasped at the sight they saw. The houses have been reduced to cinders, burnt to the ground. There was this unmistakable trace of burned flesh that lingered in the air, and beyond the trees that stood between them and the village was just a black patch of land.

" Shit, what just happened here?" Hiroshi exclaimed.

" An attack, but this cannot be achieved by mere bandits," Ryouta replied, frowning as he looked at his surroundings, looking utterly displeased. " I believe shinobi are responsible for this, and they will pay for their actions."

There was a sudden rustle of movement, before Ryouta raised his hands and caught Sora in the chest, stopping her before she could charge forward. " What?! We need to go and investigate this, Ryouta!" Sora exclaimed, angry that Ryouta had stopped her.

" I know that, but the situation is still precarious. According to the reports, there should be several shinobi teams situated around the place, but I don't seem to see any activity. Also, I was keeping an eye on any messenger birds, but there are apparently none so far, not even from the closest village. We will have to prepare for the worst," Ryouta spoke, his voice slightly tense. Sora relaxed as he spoke. Hiroshi knew that Ryouta was ever the meticulous thinker, and was considering every possible scenario. " Makoto, would it trouble you?"

Makoto merely clapped his hands together and kept quiet. Hiroshi knew full well that he was using his sound techniques to check out the surrounding area. His ears started to absorb every vibration within the vicinity, no matter how slight or minute. Makoto focused for a while, and the rest of them knew how to keep quiet. The situation was beyond what they had been expected off, and Hiroshi feared for the worst, especially when Makoto frowned all of a sudden.

" I hear combat…I think three of your Leaf comrades are up against a team of four. One of them has been seriously injured, and the other two are wearing out," Makoto replied. Sora flinched, but Makoto spoke up again, saying " Wait, there is a team of three heading towards their direction, 30 degress from the south, slightly more than a kilometer away. Foreign, I suspect."

" We don't have time to waste. We need to help our comrades now!" Ryouta exclaimed. " Sora, Hibiki, head south and intercept the on-coming team. The rest of us will back up our comrades."

" What shall we do with them?" Sora asked.

" Crush them as you see fit," Ryouta snarled, looking really angry. " We shall teach these intruders what it means to mess with the Leafs!"

" Damn right!" Sora exclaimed, slamming her fists together. She shot off towards the south, with Hibiki tailing her from behind as he drew his spear, where the rest of them followed Ryouta into the village.

-

A young shinobi winced in pain has he held his side, which had been cut open badly, with blood pouring from his sides. His vision was too hazy to make out a definite outline of what exactly was going on at the moment. Loud sounds were ringing all around him as the battle continued for some time now.

He was suddenly alerted to his senses when he heard someone land right behind him. He heard some vague yell of a warning somewhere, and he spun around. He couldn't really make out his opponent, since the blood that was running down his face was blurring his vision. His opponent raised his hands, and the young shinobi brought up his kunai in his right hand to block to attack. But the force of the strike was too hard for him to counter, and he felt a numbing sensation tear through his chest. As he coughed out some blood, he registered a kick to his chest that sent him sprawling aside, crashing against the burnt remains of a house.

" Sakita!" a female Leaf shinobi exclaimed as she saw her teammate being trashed aside. She blocked a quick strike towards her head, her opponent almost smashing his fist into her skull. She staggered back, before using chakra control to leap backwards. " Sousuke, Sakita's down!"

" It's not like I can really do anything about it, Yuuko!" her other teammate, who was nearby having trouble fending off two other shinobis who were harassing him by firing off wind jutsus in his direction. Yuuko gritted her teeth as she tried to catch her breath, but the slight pause allowed her opponent to grab her by the throat and slam her painfully on the ground. " Yuuko!"

" Shit…" Yuuko groaned as she tried to pry her opponents hands free from her neck, but it was to no avail. Her hand flicked downwards to reach for her kunai, but the shinobi who was dealing with Sakita came up and stepped on her hand hard, pinning her hands to he floor. She stared back at her enemies as they looked maliciously down on her. " Forget it, Sousuke! Get out of here now!" Yuuko exclaimed, knowing the situation was hopeless. They had been outmatched by this group, and their reinforcements were arriving as well.

" I can't leave you!" Sousuke exclaimed through the fray.

" Don't be an ass! Leave now!" Yuuko exclaimed.

" Don't goad him on, girl," the man holding her neck replied. He released his grip and formed a few seals. Yuuko's eyes widened in shock as she caught sight of the final seal. Her opponent slammed his hand on her chest, and Yuuko screamed in pain as she felt painful jolts of electricity shoot through her entire body.

This only lasted for a second.

The next thing she felt was this tremendous heat from a nearby explosion, which sort of occurred somewhere above her. She felt the man release her grip as fire roared right above her. There were some surprised cries coming from somewhere to her left, along with the sound of metal striking against metal. Someone skidded right next to her, and when she looked up, Hiroshi was looking down at her with concern.

" Hiroshi…?" she gasped, recognizing the only Leaf shinobi who had picked up puppetry from the Sand some years ago. She had met him previously in the Chuunin exams before, and was his opponent in the preliminary matches.

" Don't worry, we are here to help," Hiroshi assured. He clapped his hands together, and then pressed them on Yuuko's upper chest. She spotted the swirl of chakra around his hands turn green, and slowly, the pain and aches in her chest started to subside.

" No, treat Sakita, he's been wounded badly," Yuuko exclaimed, holding onto Hiroshi's shoulder in order to pull herself up.

" Don't worry, my friend is seeing to that," Hiroshi replied.

Yuuko took a quick look around. A girl she had never seen before who was of Hiroshi's age was kneeling next to an unconscious Sakita, healing his wounds with her medical jutsus, and from the looks of her movement and chakra control, she was several classes ahead in terms of medical skill compared to Hiroshi. A flash of fire made her turn around. Hiroshi's teammate, Ryouta, was throwing his fire jutsus all over the place, trying his best to push back their opponents. Another shinobi was by Sousuke's side, helping put some pressure off him.

" Suzumi, watch out!"

The sand medic looked up, only to see one of the shinobis fire a bolt of electricity at her. She grabbed Sakita and leaped aside as the bolt of lightning struck the spot where she previously stood. The shinobi fired another shot, but Hiroshi skidded right in front of her, a scroll in his hand. In a flash, a humanoid, metallic puppet stood in front of him, and the electric bolt struck it harmlessly, channeling all the electricity to the ground.

Ryouta, Makoto and Sousuke skidded towards where they were, forming a small group as Yuuko stood up. " You guys…" Sousuke mused, recognizing Hiroshi and Ryouta. " I didn't know we managed to contact reinforcements. With our Sand allies as well…"

" We were just passing by. We didn't receive any order to come as reinforcements," Ryouta answered.

" Where's Sora?" Yuuko asked, realizing their female member of their group was missing.

" She's intercepting another group along with my teammate," Suzumi spoke up.

" Thanks, guys…you couldn't have come at a better time," Sousuke thanked.

" Don't mention it," Makoto replied, grinning.

" Tch, we've had too many interferences now," one of the enemy shinobi replied. Hiroshi noticed that they were all dressed in similar black tactical vests. One was a female with short hair, while another was a thin man with long hair. Another two had masks over their faces. All of them gathered at a spot as well when Hiroshi and the rest of them joined up in a spot.

" I don't care what the fuck you are up to, but coming here and destroying our village and harming our comrades is equivalent to a death sentence," Ryouta replied dangerously, his voice sounding really grated.

" They really tough," Yuuko replied. " The mask ones use a lot of lightning jutsu combos. I've only seen the long hair guy use taijutsu, and the female has some water jutsus up her sleeve."

" Suzumi, how's Sakita?" Ryouta asked.

" He's been seriously injured, but I've stabilized most of his injuries, so he'll be fine," Suzumi replied, doing some finishing touches on her patient before drawing several senbon needles out from her weapon pack. " I'm more than ready."

" Yuuko? Sousuke?"

" I can still hold my own. Yuuko's had it worse than me though," Sousuke replied.

" We will need to fight them nonetheless," Hiroshi replied firmly.

" Do you want them sliced, or diced?" Makoto asked. Hiroshi could feel the familiar feeling of him channeling his wind energy to his fingertips, his Wind Blades ready to strike.

Ryouta formed his twelve hand seals, before collecting an insane amount of chakra to the palms of his hands. There was a sudden roar around them as his hands started to catch fire, feeding off the chakra he passed out of the palms of his hands. Hiroshi could already feel Ryouta's formidable killing intent rise exponentially. " I was thinking extra crispy…" Ryouta snarled.

" What? Could it be?" the female enemy mused.

" What is?" one of the masked shinobi asked.

" Could it be Sato Ryouta, the one they dub the 'Phoenix of Konoha'? I heard he was fairly exceptional for a chuunin his age," she continued. " It is rumoured that he managed to take down two jounins separately by himself."

" Well, we'll see about that," the long haired guy exclaimed.

All of them braced themselves when he drew out three kunais attached to explosive notes and flung it towards them without blinking. Hiroshi moved first, throwing out his hands and extending his chakra strings. They managed to snag onto the kunais, and halted their movement towards them. Not only that, the explosive notes failed to ignite.

" What?"

Ryouta and Makoto moved simultaneously, heading left and right respectively. Makoto fired out a jet of wind while Ryouta shot out a stream of fire. Both wind and flame collided, bursting into a combustible flare in the middle of the battle ground, setting off a large explosion. As their enemies leaped back, Sousuke leaped through the smoke, executing a spinning kick at the long haired shinobi. He leaped backwards to avoid the hit, but he somehow managed to back up to something solid. When he turned around, he spotted a wooden figure with six long arms hanging by its side, a demon looking face looking down upon it.

From beyond the smoke screen, Hiroshi flicked his fingers slightly, sending down his signal using chakra along his special chakra strings. It took less than a fraction of a second for the puppet to register the signal, and its actions took effect almost simultaneously. As soon as his enemy bumped into his puppet which he managed to sneak up behind his opponent, he signaled his puppet to snare him with its arms. The shinobi exclaimed in surprise as its wooden arms wrapped themselves around him in an instant, holding him down.

" Gotcha!" Hiroshi exclaimed.

" Bah, do you think this dumb puppet of yours can hold me down?!" the man exclaimed. With a sudden surge of strength, he tensed his muscles and broke free, the tight grip of Hiroshi's puppet unable to hold him down. He broke free from the arms, and kicked Hiroshi's puppet aside, sending the wooden puppet flying away.

" Not really…" Hiroshi replied non-chalantly, flicking the fingers of his other hand.

The shinobi was suddenly swallowed up by a massive wooden and metallic snake that burst out from the ground, obviously another puppet of Hiroshi's. The man gave a cry of surprise as the ground gave way to a massive snake, which swallowed him in one whole bit, trapping it within its body. The huge mouth gulped the man in one go, trapping it within its segmented body, before it dropped back on the ground.

Hiroshi calmly flicked his finger, and his snake puppet started to coil and twist, its segments turning about in opposite directions. There was a sickening cracking of bone and muscle followed by a blood curling scream of pain. Yuuko and Sousuke winced slightly at the brutality of Hiroshi dealing the death blow, as he merely watched with calm interest as he killed off the man by crushing him painfully inside the body of his contraption. Seconds later, blood started to drip out of the puppet snake, and the screaming stopped. Their enemies took pause as they saw it, before turning to look at Hiroshi.

" Nah, crispy is a tad bit unhealthy, Ryouta," Hiroshi replied. " I prefer them squeezed dry."


	4. Chapter 3: Edges of Danger

**Chapter 3: Edges of Danger**

" Damn Matsuda for moving on his own. Can't he listen to me for once? He's going to get it when we get to him," a female shinobi growled under her breath. She, along with two other shinobis flanking her, moved quickly along the ruined plains of the village they had recently destroyed. It wasn't a pretty sight, and certainly very messy, but it was necessary nonetheless. They were moving up to meet up with their other comrades who were dealing with the Leaf shinobi who had gotten hold of something important, and it was their task to get it back.

" But Akane, he had to…"

Her companion didn't get to finish his sentence in time. All of a sudden, the hair on her neck started to prickle all of a sudden when she felt a sensation of chakra flying in her direction. She skidded to a halt and leaped backwards, a spear missing the spot where she was to be by fractions of a centimeter, slamming into the ground right in front of her.

" Reinforcements?" she mused to herself.

There was some movement by the side, and two seconds later, a shinobi jumped out from the forest side of the village and stood upon his spear that he had struck on the ground, which was sticking out from the floor like a very irritating piece of furniture. Akane narrowed her eyes as she observed the newcomer.

" Tch, Sand-nins…what the hell are you doing so far from home?" she mused.

" Same can be asked about you bastards!" a rough female voice exclaimed all of a sudden.

Something flew out from behind them, a figure of a young kunoichi with wild silver hair threw herself into their formation. She smashed her legs in a wild spinning kick towards one of the shinobis. The man lifted his hands to the side of his head in an instant, blocking the kick, but his eyes suddenly dilated when he felt the effects of the strike. As he stood there, slightly stunned, Sora drew back her arm and tensed her muscles. It took her a second, but when she struck, she slammed the person in the chest, sending him flying aside into a nearby tree, sending dust and dirt into the air.

" Tch, pests…hey, Taksuki, get up, that one blow shouldn't be enough to take you down," Akane replied. However, there was no reply, and Akane looked at where Taksuki had hit. As the dust settled, she saw a long line of blood from where he was hit, till where he had landed. " Damn, what crazy technique was that?" Akane mused.

" Nothing much, bitch. It will be the technique that will end your life," Sora snarled, cracking her knuckles menacingly.

" I don't know what you flunkies are up to doing here, but we cannot let you have your way. Surrender peacefully, or we will be forced to take punitive action," Hibiki replied, jumping off his spear and pulling it out of the ground with one hand, before pointing the edge of his weapon towards the two remaining shinobi.

" You don't know what the hell you are talking about, stupid Hibiki!" Sora shouted. " We are here to pulverize them!"

" Looks like your spunky Leaf partner isn't going to take prisoners anyway," Akane replied. " Besides, I've got better things to do than sit around in the Leaf prison, spilling the beans on things I know by your interrogation squad."

" Too bad then," Hibiki replied, bracing himself and he lowered his body slightly while holding his spear with two hands, ready to strike without moments notice. All four of them stayed at their positions, not moving, perhaps hoping that someone would break the silence.

Sora struck first. With a yell, she leaped at Akane, and less than a split second later, Hibiki shot in at once, both of them moving at tremendous speeds. Sora flung her arm to attempt to hit Akane, but she ducked in an instant, before leaping aside, running towards the forest. Sora didn't miss a beat, and tore right after her in an instant, both of them running through the forest. Hibiki struck the other shinobi squarely in the chest, but he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

" Hmm, he escaped as well…?" Hibiki mused, before looking around to see if he could see or hear anything out of the ordinary. " No, he's still around, just hiding…"

-

Sora flung several shurikens in front of her. Akane avoided the attack by making a backflip, spinning her body upwards as the shurikens passed harmlessly beneath her. Sora looked up as she jumped, and when she was facing Sora in mid-air, her hands were drawn to her sides, and she flung some things to her. Sora threw out several more shurikens, which smashed into the bottles Akane threw out.

_Poison?!_ Sora thought instantly.

Sora blasted chakra to her feet, kicking herself backwards to another branch while blowing the tree branch she had landed upon with the insane burst of chakra from her feet as the fluids from the bottles fell right in front of her. A sharp rustle made her look up, only to see Akane missing. In an instant, she spun around, but a hand caught hers from behind. Akane raised her free hand, a sharp senbon needle in her hand, some fluids dripping from its edges.

The weapon came down, but Sora managed to catch it just in time just before she could sink it into her neck. However, occupied with her poisoned needle, Sora didn't pay enough attention to her other hand, which released her instantly, and struck her throat. Sora gagged slightly as she felt Akane's hand slam upon her throat, making her double over. Sensing Sora loosing strength as Sora dropped to her knees slightly, she grabbed her senbon using two hands and attempted to push it down her neck.

" Omph!"

Sora struck her head on Akane's chest, forcing her to loose balance slightly, her senbon missed her neck, striking her cotton jacket instead. Sora swung her arm around to her back, trying to grab hold of Akane, but she had by that time flipped herself over Sora's head, landing in front of her. Releasing her grip, she stomped her foot on one of Sora's feet, before making the other shoot straight up, slamming into her jaw. There was a resounding crack as Sora's head shot upwards as Akane's foot slammed into her jaw. Grinning, she threw a punch to her gut, but was swiftly blocked by Sora's hand.

Sora drew back her hand and slammed her fist into Akane, throwing her off the branch and onto the ground below, her punch much more intense than Akane's. Akane fell on the hard, wet floor, rolling twice before coming to her feet. She was breathing heavily, having exerted herself and taking some hits. Her opponent was really something. Her reflexes were top-notch, and despite being hit in the head, she recovered from the concussion pretty fast. Sora jumped off the branch and landed on the ground, their surroundings littered with trees.

" You fight well…it has been a while since a rookie like you could push me this far," Akane replied, wiping the blood from her lips.

" As for you, you are too tenacious for your own good," Sora replied, spitting out the blood in her mouth.

She observed her opponent for a bit. She had roughly the same height as she had, but she looked a couple of years older somehow. She was dressed in a light vest with several slings around her sides where she stored more of her poisons. She had hazel hair and round, mischievous blue eyes. She looked as lithe and athletic as Sora was. Sora thought it was odd that she was a poison taijutsu user, which was quite rare.

" Interesting fighting style. Looks like you enhance your fighting abilities using ninjutsu, sound to be more specific," Akane replied.

" Poison and taijutsu, eh? Strange mix," Sora replied.

" I like you," Akane said, slipping on a pair of fingerless gloves. " Fighting with you is giving me the thrills. Perhaps you are just about as violent and bloodthirsty as I am. What is your name, kunoichi of the Leaf?"

Sora braced herself into a fighting position, pushing her leg forward while keeping her hands raised and curled up in tight balls of fists. " The name's Tanaka Sora, Chuunin of the Hidden Leaf," Sora replied, unable to stop herself grinning somehow.

Akane drew out several vials with multi-coloured liquids within them. " Yakushiji Akane, Chuunin of formerly the Hidden Cloud. Shall we commence, Sora?" Akane answered.

" Let's!" Sora yelled as she charged at her opponent.

-

Ryouta and Makoto both flung several shurikens towards their opponents, all of them greeted by the same number of shurikens in return, striking all in mid-air and dropping harmlessly aside. Two lightning bolts flew in their direction. Ryouta leaped aside to avoid being hit, while Makoto whipped out a shinobi knife and sliced through the lightning bolt, his wind enhanced blade tearing through the bolt, splitting it into two arcs that struck several meters behind him by his sides.

" Can't you have another go with your snake again?" Makoto asked.

" Not really possible. Puppetry depends on trickery, and I can so far set it up once without making it obvious. I'll leave it to you guys to deal with them, alright?" Hiroshi chuckled.

" That's a tad bit too much, no?" Ryouta chuckled.

Ryouta took a deep breath and started to spew fire all over the place. The three remaining shinobi leaped back to avoid the flames, but Ryouta persisted, throwing his flames in what seemed like an unstoppable storm, fire flying all over the place.

" Wind Release: Wind Ripple!" Makoto exclaimed, finishing his seals and thrusting his hand forward.

The combination of wind and fire once again set off another huge explosion, and Makoto and Ryouta were seemingly doing this without effort. Their field of vision was blurred slightly from all the smoke and dust that had been kicked up from the blast. Hiroshi suddenly felt a ripple below him, as if someone was moving underground him somewhat.

" Underground?!" Hiroshi exclaimed.

" Water Technique: Underground Barrier Entrapment Technique!"

Sousuke skidded right next to Hiroshi and plunged his hand into the solid ground beneath him, his hands sinking deep into the soil as if it were made of soft clay. He reached in as far as he could, before yanking his hand out with some effort. He pulled out the female shinobi, who had a kunai clenched in her mouth, looking displeased.

" You aren't going to use that for the third time, lady!" Sousuke exclaimed, grinning.

The female shinobi reached out for her kunai using her free hand, and whipped her hand at his face. Hiroshi caught her arm in an instant before she could sink the kunai into Sousuke's skull. She spun around and spat something out of her mouth. Hiroshi gave a yell and released his grip on her as some sticky fluid was splattered on his face, making him reel backwards. Sousuke did the same and ducked when Hiroshi's grip slackened, and the kunoichi swung her arm right above his head. Before either one of them could recover, the kunoichi leaped at Hiroshi and stabbed her kunai into his chest.

" Hiroshi!" Yuuko exclaimed in alarm as she saw the kunai sink into his chest. She rushed up to him, preparing a strike to the kunoichi's face, not before she sank back into the ground again. " Shit, Hiroshi, are you alright?!"

" Geez, I'm fine, relax," Hiroshi replied, sounding slightly irritated as he pulled the kunai out of his chest. Yuuko noticed that there was some amount of blood on it, but not seemingly enough for a stab wound to his upper chest. He flung the kunai aside, looking around for the female shinobi who was now out of sight.

" No shit…how the hell…?"

" Nothing a little extra padding under my attire can't help," Hiroshi answered quickly. " I've been doing some experiments on materials that would provide excellent protection against blades and projectiles. Kevlar synthetics work wonders I tell you. I just need to make them lighter somehow."

There came several cries of pain and they turned around. Loud sparks could be heard, and Makoto and Ryouta were unceremoniously thrown backwards towards their sides, skidding with their backs on the ground, as if they had been hit by some force field, their bodies crackling with electric sparks slightly.

" Damn it!" Ryouta spat.

Two of the other enemy shinobi had a tremendous amount of electricity flowing all around them, sparks flying from the palms of their hands which surrounded them. They managed to find some time to prepare their jutsus, and Hiroshi could even feel the intensity of their jutsus even at this distance. He wasn't sure if his puppet could withstand such an amount of lightning energy, but before he could make up his mind, Suzumi dashed past him all of a sudden, her hands clasped together in focus.

" Lightning release: Lightning Storm Technique!" the two shinobi exclaimed.

" Instant Focal Disruption Technique!" Suzumi cried.

Hiroshi wasn't sure what happened, but he noticed that both shinobi winced when Suzumi did whatever she was doing. All the arcs of lightning energy flew in odd directions, scattering and striking the ground all around them, but miraculously missing them by at least a foot. Suzumi's genjutsu managed to throw their aim off track, which was amazing since she did it in a split second. However, it wasn't perfect, as one of the multiple lightning bolts passed right next to her head, the energy knocking her backwards.

" Suzumi!" Hiroshi exclaimed, pulling his puppet back to catch her before she fell back on a set of rocks.

Ryouta threw himself towards the two shinobis, his hands roaring with flames. One of the shinobi recovered fast enough, and out shot another bolt of electricity from the palm of his hand. Makoto flung his shinobi blade right at him, the wind enhanced blade ripped the bolt into two parts, both of them missing Ryouta's head by fractions. Missing their chance to stop Ryouta, he slammed his palm painfully into the gut of the closest person, pressing his hand hard. His opponent attempted to struggle but he was unable to stop Ryouta immolating him from the intense fire on his hand, and within seconds he was screaming in agony as flames danced and fed on his body.

Ryouta winced when the second person knocked him down, backhanding him right in the face since he was in such close proximity to him. Being too occupied in immolating the other guy made Ryouta slightly careless, and he winced as he fell down on the ground. He tried to get up, but found himself unable to as he felt his body feeling oddly paralyzed.

_Shit, did he jolt my nerves with electricity to paralyze me?_ Ryouta thought. The shinobi raised his hand, kunai in hand. Ryouta watched the blade hang over his head for what seemed like an eternity. He was roughly 10 meters from his friends, and even if they could even throw or shoot a jutsu towards him, he knew the kunai would descend faster than whatever they could possibly achieve within the time frame it took to close the distance of 10 meters.

Just as his enemy was about to take his life, something jumped out from his left. The shinobi roared in pain as Ryouta saw Hiroshi's snake puppet bite hard on his arm that was about to descend on his neck. Ryouta had completely forgotten that Hiroshi had managed to leave his puppet in the midst of the fight. The shinobi tried to break free, but the snake's jaw was about as tight as a vice. He didn't have to struggle long though. Yuuko threw three kunais at him, two striking his chest and another near his neck, and the second Ryouta's paralysis was gone, he reached up and pressed the kunai down hard on his neck. The blade sunk into the man's neck, doing the same exact deed that he was about to do to Ryouta, their positions changed by a fluke and a lucky strike.

" Shit, Ryouta, are you alright?" Sousuke asked, skidding next to him.

" Yeah," Ryouta said as he got up slowly, the paralyzing effects still slightly in place. It took him a few second to regain most of his motor sensors back. " I'm fine. That was a lucky call. I owe you one, Hiroshi."

" What about me?!" Makoto demanded.

" I could have avoided that lightning bolt anytime of the day, so don't mind me if I don't say thank you," Ryouta replied jokingly.

" What about that female shinobi?" Yuuko asked.

" I cannot sense her presence. It was wise of her to leave. There was no way she could have handled all six of us alone," Makoto replied.

Hiroshi merely observed his companions taking for a bit, before turning his attention to the figure rising from his puppet. Suzumi stood up, shaking her head groggily. " That was awesome, Suzumi. If you hadn't distracted those guys with that genjutsu skill you did there, we all would have been toast," Yuuko praised.

Suzumi's face merely turned red as she attempted to look somewhere else, choosing the floor as the target this time.

" Are you alright? You didn't get hit seriously, didn't you?" Hiroshi asked, walking up to her and placing his hand on her shoulders.

" I'm fine, Hiroshi, thanks for the concern. It just grazed me, that's all, and I'm a little unsteady from the shock, but that's nothing to worry about," Suzumi replied. Hiroshi checked the spot where the lightning bolt had passed her. Her shirt was slightly charred at the place where the lightning bolt zapped her, but she was relatively fine. Using a senbon needle, she pried her shirt open, exposing her skin, which was slightly red but otherwise fine. " I appreciate the catch though…" she continued.

" Urm…nothing to it," Hiroshi replied, this time his turn to blush.

" Is everyone else fine?" Ryouta asked everyone. Everyone merely nodded quietly. " Hiroshi, Suzumi, could I trouble you for a quick check-up? When we are done as fast as possible, we will need to get to where Sora and Hibiki are."

" We..." Makoto said all of a sudden, making everyone look at him as he clasped his hands together in a Tiger seal, while his eyebrows seemed to be joined in focus. "...might not need to worry about that..."

-

Hibiki whipped around, the kunai merely nicking his arm. Yet again, he saw nothing in front of him. He whipped his head left and right, before turning around and looking all over. A second kunai came out of nowhere, but this time he managed to avoid it by stepping aside, almost by intuition now. The kunai flew aside and struck a nearby tree.

" You can't keep this up forever," his opponent taunted him using his voice projection technique from beneath the ground. Hibiki leaped aside once more, the kunai barely missing his face.

He considered his position. His enemy had used some technique to stay underground, and to throw kunais randomly at his back. From what he has seen, his aim was pretty sharp, and Hibiki had to use almost all his concentration to just focus on where the attack is coming from and avoid it in an instant. He was quite certain if he attempted to leave the area, his enemy would get a nice shot on his back, and he'll be screwed. However, he could not determine where exactly he was underground. He deduced he was shallow enough for him to get pierced by his spear, but if he missed, Hibiki knew he might be screwed, since he had only one chance to hit him. Missing would leave him vulnerable for a split second, and it was all his enemy needed to sink a kunai down on the back of his neck.

" If you could hit me, you would have already had, jackass," Hibiki replied. " What is your purpose here?! If you tell me, I could possibly spare you..."

Hibiki whipped his neck aside just in time to allow the kunai to gaze the side of his neck, feeling the warm blood trickle down his neck. Hibiki merely wiped the blood away, before raising his spear right in front of him, as if he had somehow acquired a target.

" You are not the one who has the advantage here..." his opponent replied.

" Unfortunately, I do..." Hibiki replied " I'm feeling generous today, since I'm working with my more lenient comrades from the Leaf, I'll give you a chance. If you tell me the reason why you all are here before your next throw, I'll assure you I'll let you live."

There wasn't an answer for a while. Hibiki merely closed his eyes and took a deep breath. His next move needed to be a decisive one, and he had only one chance. He enjoyed the tingling sensation of danger somehow, like a hunter and his prey. Adrenaline was rushing to his head as he readied himself.

He felt it coming, the attack. He wasn't sure how he knew it, but perhaps it was that his senses had been attuned to combat somehow, managing to sense everything that pertained to this fight: every sound, every smell, every feeling. He somehow felt a kunai being thrown behind his back, and his body moved into action all of a sudden.

He brought his spear up and down towards the opposite direction, turning his body 180 degrees within less than a second. He could see the kunai coming right at him, but he disregarded it completely. He ran forward, the kunai sinking into his chest, but he was totally undeterred. His spear suddenly brimmed with his wind element, and the blade was suddenly sharpened beyond reckoning. He pulled his arm back, and sunk his spear deep into the soil, his wind enhanced spear making it no different to slicing water, sinking it several feet deep into the soil. Hibiki suddenly cracked up a broad grin on his face when he felt the sensation on his spear that told him he managed to strike a human body somehow.

" How'd...no...you..." he could hear his enemy gasp somehow, his voice in pain.

" I guess I should be kind enough to explain to you while you bleed slowly beneath the ground and contemplate on how much you failed," Hibiki replied gleefully, twisting his spear slightly. " Your technique was excellent, and not to mention irritating as well. However, perhaps it was due to stupidity, or sheer carelessness, that you needed to throw your kunai at my back, and only when I'm completely facing the opposite direction of where you are, at the same angle, every single time. Now, out of the 25 throws you have made, you only threw your kunai when my back was facing you, at a degree where you would be roughly 5 feet behind me. Logically, on your 26th throw, it should apply the same."

Hibiki yanked out his spear, blood spurting out from the ground. " Now, I think I shall sadistically enjoy the fact that since you are in absolute pain, you will be unable to focus on your chakra to control your jutsu that allows you to stay underground without problems. You will find that keeping yourself buried under 4 feet of soil can be very suffocating, and I doubt you have the strength or tenacity to dig your way out. Have a nice day now!"


	5. Chapter 4: Poisoner of the Hidden Cloud

**Chapter 4: Poisoner of the Hidden Cloud**

Sora whipped her head aside just in time to avoid some oddly looking purple fluid that was most likely dangerous fly by her face. She contemplated on what would have happened if it had managed to hit her somehow as the fluid flew past her face, passing her eyes as she focused on it for a split second. She didn't think about it long though, since she had other things to think off, and beat up, at the very moment.

She threw her hand in a wild swing towards Akane's head. Akane knew better than to block the attack, and she ducked faster than Sora could pull the strike. Her hand shot to her face when Sora threw a kick at her, and she flew backwards slightly from the force. Collecting chakra to her feet, Sora burst forward, before leaping at Akane with a spinning kick towards her face. Akane managed to sink low enough to dodge the first spin, but Sora spun around once more, this time the kick coming in lower. With precise calculation, she slammed her hand on the ground, and blasting chakra from the tips of her fingers, threw herself upwards in a spin.

Sora jumped and slammed her palm down hard on Akane, but she managed to block her by crossing her hands together, stopping her as she slammed her hard on the ground. Sora raised her right hand to slam down on her head, but Akane pushed her off and rolled aside the second the hand came down, shattering the earth, sending out cracks along the floor that ranged to about 3 feet.

Sora kicked herself backwards as several senbon needles came her way, striking the ground where she stood. All of a sudden, she suddenly found herself backed up against a tree. Akane flung more senbon needles at her. Sora twisted and turned her body around to avoid getting hit, but while she was busy avoiding Akane's senbon needles, she took the opportunity to close the distance between themselves.

Sora's arm shot up towards a defensive position next to her head as she blocked the strike to her head. Akane's other arm shot up to strike an uppercut on Sora's chin, but Sora was quick enough to parry to blow by shooting her other arm downwards to block the strike. Akane broke free from the grasp, took a step back to gain some breathing space, before throwing a few jabs at Sora's chest. Sora twist and turned her body to avoid the strikes, catching Akane by her arm as her limb shot past her face.

Sora merely caught out of the corner of her eye Akane unfurling her fist to release something from within her fingers.

There was a sharp snap in the air, and Sora kicked back several meters backwards in a split second as green gas suddenly appeared all around her all of a sudden, clouding the spot she once stood. As she flew backwards, she saw two red and blue pellets fly out from within the green gas cloud, no doubt thrown by Akane. Sora jumped upwards just as the two pellets burst into purple smoke, but she was just not quick enough, and she inhaled some of the gas. Sora suddenly gagged when all of a sudden she felt some build-up of pressure in her nostril, and as she covered her mouth and nose with her hands, she felt some blood spurt out from her nose.

As she hit the underside of a branch of one of the trees as she leaped up, she felt a light tap on the branch, as if something had landed on it. She didn't need to be told who it was, since a second later, something swung down from above, and crashed into her. Sora reacted fast enough to grab Akane's hands before she managed to sink a couple of senbon needles into her chest. Raising her leg, she kicked Akane hard in the chest, forcing her backwards as both combatants hit the ground with a thud.

" Tch, damn it," Sora replied, wiping the blood from her nose, the bleeding having stopped already. She suspected that Akane used some corrosive mixture that would break the walls of her respiration system, causing some internal bleeding that would disorientate her for a while. Akane hopped back to her feet, getting up from the ground, rubbing the spot where Sora had given her a well-placed kick to push her away.

" Well, I must say that you reflexes are pretty darn fast," Akane replied.

" I've gotta avoid getting caught by the likes of you," Sora replied, panting slightly. Akane was giving her more trouble than she expected.

" An interesting technique you use there," Akane replied, pointing her finger at Sora " At first glance, it is obvious that your taijutsu utilises high speed movements, mainly using your hands for offense and legs for speed, plus a combination of sound enhancements the moment you strike to deal massive amounts of damage. However, most sound techniques usually use some sort of a medium to work, and yours, surprisingly, is done by using your own bones. I would say that it's convenient, but using your own body to such a degree…your hands must hurt like hell."

" Bah, figuring out my techniques isn't going to make this fight sway to your side, so please stop troubling yourself," Sora replied.

However, Sora wondered if she actually knew the rest of it. Sora's strikes were selective, as in she could choose whether to emit sonic waves from her bones or not, and this is done by controlling the chakra pulses that flow through her arm. If she figures she could land a good strike, then she can choose to emit the sonic waves at the precise moment. Akane had done well in avoiding most of her attacks. Even if Sora could direct sonic waves into her head through air to disorientate her, she still managed to keep her distance to avoid making it too detrimental to her fighting capabilities.

" Maybe, but I'm sure when we were talking, I was sure to sway this fight in my favour…" Akane replied confidently.

_What?!_ Sora exclaimed in her mind.

Akane rushed towards Sora all of a sudden, throwing a kick towards her head. Sora's arm shot up in an instant, but she suddenly realized that her arms felt strangely heavy all of a sudden. Before she could do anything about it, Akane's foot came smashing into the side of her head, throwing her helplessly aside. Sora tried to pick herself up, but it felt as if her weight had doubled all of a sudden, or that gravity has increased by twice fold.

_Shit, she probably administered some poison during our fight that giving my muscles the sensation that they are being too heavy…_Sora thought darkly, her lip bleeding from the kick. _Question is when…_

Akane didn't waste any time in following up the attack, and rushed forward, throwing a quick jab towards Sora. Sora strained the best she could, pulling up her hands just in the nick of time to parry the blow, but this only made Akane break out into a flurry of blows, her hands flying in all directions. Sora managed to block a couple of hits, not before Akane's reaction speed was too fast for her slowed down body to keep up, and one of her hands slipped between her guard and slammed hard against her jaw.

Sora found herself once again thrown backwards by the force of the hit, blood flowing from her mouth. She stretched out her legs, halting her drop and skidded aside to a halt. Akane came flying towards her once more, aiming for her head once more. Sora buckled her knees, and jumped to the left when Akane swung her leg at her face, missing by inches.

However, a sudden realization dawned on Sora. Her movement speed hasn't decreased, obvious from the way she dodged the attack, but why was her body feeling so heavy? She looked down on her arms.

_Perhaps it's only the sensation on my arms that is giving me the idea that my body is heavy…everything seems fine though…_she thought to herself. _Wait, this means that she only poisoned my arms…when did she do that…when she was talking to me?_

Sora ducked when several senbon needles came flying towards her direction. A second later, her eyes registered a foot coming up at high speeds towards her, attempting to meet her nose. Her legs sprung up, and she sprang upwards towards the branches. Hitting the underside of one of the branches, she sprang again, leaping towards the trunk of another tree, and using it as footing, leaped around the place as she ricocheted all around the place.

Sora hit the ground and dashed at Akane, trying to build up momentum with the run. Akane saw it coming, and was ready to receive the strike. Akane pulled her leg back, and swung it powerfully towards Sora as she came.

Her leg greeted an empty space in front of her.

" What?!" Akane exclaimed.

Something could be felt coming in from her back, but before she could do anything, Sora came swinging in from the back, her leg smashing down hard on Akane's neck, sending her crashing onto the floor several meters away.

" Unbelievable…a body flicker technique, at such distances and without hand seals," Akane groaned, trying to pick herself up.

Sora grinned wildly. At the very last second, a step before she reached Akane, she let loose a calculated amount of sound energy to her feet, allowing her to propel herself at flash-like speeds of the body flicker technique towards Akane's back to land a critical blow. If she could not use her arms, she would have to use her legs, and her body flicker technique matched with her sound ability was something to be reckoned with.

However, she was not used to using sound techniques using her legs, and plus without focusing her chakra and molding it properly to her feet, it was now causing a strain on her legs. Sora gritted her teeth. She had cornered Akane to a perfect corner, and all she needed now was a perfect strike to finish her once and for all.

" Initial Gate: Open!"

As soon as Sora broke the first of the Eight Gates, she felt the pain in her legs disappear, before being followed by a sudden outflow of chakra into her body, as if she had gotten a good dose from a soldier pill. The heaviness in her arms didn't go away, but that didn't really matter right now.

" Shit!" Akane muttered.

" Leaf Sonic Crush!"

Sora seemed to whip out of existence for a split second, before suddenly coming in to crash into Akane, her foot smashing into her chest. Akane saw her movement just in the nick of time, and used her hands to intercept the kick, but a tremendous shockwave followed when her foot came into contact with her hands, the blast knocking Akane backwards and slamming her into a tree. Akane felt the rush of wind around her, and suddenly felt Sora's foot connect to the underside of her jaw, smashing her body upwards.

" It's not over yet, bitch!" Sora exclaimed.

She jumped up past Akane's body that she sent flying, hitting one of the higher parts of the tree trunk. Blasting herself downwards, she shot past Akane, but not before catching her head between her calves. She came crashing back down at an insane speed, making sure to smash Akane's head on the solid ground with a resounding crash before rolling aside, dust and dirt blasting out in a mushroom shaped dome. Sora groaned in pain as she hit the floor, and despite trying to minimize the impact, her whole body was sore, the aftereffects of using the Gates taking effect.

However, her gut instinct told her Akane was far from done. She felt an odd sensation just before she hit the ground, and it was enough to tell her that her technique had failed to connect somehow. She watched the dust settle, before she could clearly see what had happened to Akane.

Sora's eyes widened in shock and surprise as she saw Akane doing a hand stand using one hand, her left specifically, when the dust settled. Akane hopped back and landed on her feet. Her left hand had been shattered badly, badly twisted and bleeding profoundly, but she herself was relatively fine. She cracked a broad grin, as she whipped out a piece of cloth from her pack and attempted to bandage her arm.

And a bold move indeed she had executed. Just before she hit the ground, she channeled an amount of chakra to her left hand, and just before she hit the ground, released the chakra from the palm of her hands to act as a cushion before crashing. Furthermore, she also extended her hand just in the nick of time, despite being disorientated by the blow to her head as Sora kicked her upwards to crash into the ground first to receive the damage her head would have accepted instead. Sure, her arm had been shattered, but at least she was still alive and well.

" Wait, how the hell can you be withstanding so much pain without even flinching?" Sora exclaimed, looking at her twisted, broken bleeding arm, which was even painful to watch. But Sora felt dumb because the answer almost came to her immediately. " No, you injected some of your poison into yourself to numb your senses so you won't feel pain…"

" Wow, you are quite bright after all…" Akane laughed. " Indeed, poisons are sometime effective to use on oneself, although timing and precision is of utmost importance in doing so. It's going to be a pain to fix myself later on, but at least I'm not dead, and you cannot move…"

Sora tried to push herself to her feet, but failed to do so. Under normal circumstances, using the Initial Gate would only slow down her body, still allowing some degree of movement despite her body aching for a while. However, since she coupled it with her Sound technique, the damage received was way more than normal, not to mention her arms still felt as heavy like lead. Akane merely smiled as she walked slowly towards Sora, knowing that she had been defeated.

" Damn it, how can I lose here!?" Sora yelled loudly in despair, forcing herself to her feet. Her legs were screaming in pain, but she slowly picked herself up, willing the pain away. She staggered unsteadily on her feet, the pain wanting to make her fall back down on the ground. However, as she stood up, she noticed at Akane wasn't focused on her, but she was looking off in some far away direction. Sora had no idea what she was looking at.

" Oh, looks like we are getting some company…pity, I guess this match will have to go unsettled then," Akane replied, breaking into a broad grin. " Don't worry, I'm sure we will see each other again, and besides, I'm giving you another chance to even the score, alright?"

" What the heck are you talking about?!" Sora demanded, but Akane didn't answer. She jumped up towards one of the tree branches and jumped away, and within the next few seconds, she was gone. However, it didn't take long for her to register another sound coming her way. Turning around, she saw Hibiki drop by, perching himself on one of the branches behind her, his spear swinging lazily by his right hand.

" Oh wow, did you win?" he asked, with a sarcastic tone in his voice.

Sora merely huffed loudly. " I obviously lost, you moron," she replied, before collapsing back on the floor, much to Hibiki's shock and surprise.

-

" Ah!" was the first word that came out of Suzumi's mouth as she saw Hibiki walk up to the rest of them with Sora on his back, looking messy and beaten up, covered slightly in blood. She ran up to her as Hibiki carefully set her down on a nearby rock, kneeling down next to her. " You look terrible. What happened to you?!"

" Nothing serious…oww…" Sora replied, before groaning in pain as Hibiki nudged her legs slightly with the end of his spear, which made Suzumi pound her fist forcefully on his sandals, making him yelp in pain. " I'll live…"

" What happened?" Hiroshi asked, sounding concerned.

" Nothing much," Hibiki replied casually, rubbing the spot where Suzumi had hit him. " We dealt with them easily enough, but there was this kunoichi who was giving Sora problems in their fight. I came as soon as I could to assist, but she apparently left before I arrived. How were things on your side?"

" We've managed to deal with them properly, although one of them got away when she realized that the odds were against her," Ryouta replied. Suzumi and Hiroshi had managed to patch them all up during the span when they were done. " Sorry to trouble you, Sora. I hope you are fine…"

" Looks like she has suffered some minor fractures in her bones, but nothing too serious. Her muscles are somewhat in shock from overexertion, and there seem to be some foreign substances in her body, but she'll make a full recovery," Suzumi replied, running her hand across her body, her hands glowing green slightly.

" You look hurt, Hibiki," Hiroshi started " Let me…"

" Whoa! Back off!" Hibiki exclaimed, jumping back while pointing his spear at Hiroshi's face. " I know your intentions are good and all, but I feel uncomfortable with some guy my age trying to stick stuff on my body, alright? I just feels too gay…"

" But you know I'm not…" Hiroshi argued.

" No, but that doesn't make me any less comfortable," Hibiki replied.

" Hibiki, how rude!" Suzumi replied, this time pricking him with a senbon needle she managed to procure out of thin air, making him jump. " Hiroshi, treat him," Suzumi replied, almost sounding like an order.

Hiroshi wasn't sure whether to start laughing or not. It seems like Suzumi assumed some sort of leadership role in her team within the last three years somehow. Hiroshi merely raised both his hands and shook his head. " It's fine…I'm apparently not popular enough…" Hiroshi sighed good-naturedly.

" Geez, you guys are hilarious. Even after being in such a dangerous situation and being beaten up so badly, you can still fight with one another and crack sarcastic jokes. This is almost unbelievable," Yuuko spoke up suddenly, laughing out loud.

" Hmm?" Hibiki mused.

" Sorry, I forgot about the introductions," Ryouta replied. " Hibiki, these are our Leaf comrades: Yuuko, Sousuke, and the unconscious one is Sakita. Guys, this is Hibiki, who is with Makoto and Suzumi from the Sand, the teammates we spoke about when we were training there."

" Well, glad you all managed to arrive in time…" a deep, dark voice replied.

" Sakita, you are awake!" Yuuko exclaimed, running up to him and kneeling right next to him. " How are you feeling?"

Sakita merely looked blankly around his surroundings. Colour seemed to have drained from his face, and he looked weak, but otherwise he looked alright. He tried to get to his feet, not before Hiroshi came up to him and slowly pushed him back down on the ground.

" Don't, you've been seriously hurt. Lie down and get some rest, least you give me more problems in trying to fix you up if you open your wounds once more," Hiroshi replied kindly. Sakita merely looked at him with a tired face, but complied a second later when he slowly dropped back down to the ground and sighed loudly.

" Thanks for coming to assist us, Ryouta, and the rest of you. I feared we might have been annihilated if you came any minute later," Sakita replied.

" We were just here by chance because we were supposed to deal with some problem with this now destroyed village," Ryouta replied, waving his hand at the destruction of the village that lay before him. They had not bothered looking for survivors, since Makoto told them he could not hear anyone moving. " What were these people chasing you for anyway?"

Hiroshi noticed Sousuke and Yuuko shoot furtive glances at their Sand comrades, making him wonder if there was some sort of thing that had to deal with the administration of their village that they didn't want the Sand to hear.

" Relax, they're fine. I trust them," Ryouta replied, as he noticed this as well.

" We can leave for a while, if you wish," Makoto suggested.

" No, no, forget it, it's alright. Perhaps the Sand should hear this as well. It's a long story, so bear with me a little bit, alright?" Sousuke replied. He took a deep breath, before plunging into his story:

" I'm not sure if you all are aware of this or not, but currently our economy is in a little bit of chaos. Some radical groups have appeared in our village, and riots have been happening due to fluctuations in the flow of money and weaponry around our country. It may not seem serious, but there is now a risk of a civil war breaking out within our own country."

This was news to Makoto and the rest of the Sand chuunins. He wasn't aware of something this serious happening in the Fire country, although arguably, the Leaf probably wanted this to be kept as quiet as possible. From the looks on Hiroshi, Ryouta and Sora's faces, it looked like they knew this to a certain degree.

" Business dealings have been going sour lately between our allies the Hidden Grass and Hidden Waterfall, but this was mainly caused by radical rogue shinobi operating within our country borders. One of the main problems is the distribution of weapons: Lord Fukushi of the Grass country has been a heavy patron of the Leaf , and has continued to supply us weapons to our village and provisions to our people. However, due to this unrest, he has been suspecting that we might be using this unrest as a means of civil war, and he feels that we might be threatening the security of his own nation, making him skeptical in supporting us in the first place."

" Tensions are fairly high. If Lord Fukushi decides to stop providing weapons to us, and stop giving the provisions to our nearby villages, I believe that more riots may spark, bringing to a civil war within the northern and eastern borders. If this happens, this will only give our enemies from neighbouring countries ample opportunity to try to invade Konoha at a time of chaos. Much of this has been a set up by this rogue shinobi group, who have been doing some manipulating behind our backs. We are unsure how this organization works, but they have amassed quite an amount of shinobi into their force, from what you could see, the people who attacked us were a small part of that shinobi group."

" Needless to say, we need Lord Fukushi's support at this moment, which is difficult, considering he's someone from another country who is actively supporting us. Most of the Lords don't know much about the on-goings and espionage stuff us shinobi do, so it will be difficult to convince them, especially if they are from another country."

" However, our intel had came up with a plan, by using her daughter. You see, Lady Kaguya is a strong supporter of the Leaf and our ways, and always had plans to actually integrate the Hidden grass village with ours, forming a large coalition group to further strengthen our ties and security of her nation. One could probably say she was a Fire Lord at heart, but I digress. Anyway, we know that she would hold a lot of influence on her father, and if she can convince her father to continue supporting the Leaf, we can avoid this conflict."

" So, we had a meeting, held by some of the influencial Lords of the country, helmed by Lady Kaguya's godfather, Lord Shishio from the Fire Country, to write down an official letter to plead her to convince her father that we do not intend any ill will. We may not hold any power in the sight of these Lords, but they hold some influence over other Lords," Sousuke said, before pulling out a scroll from his pack on his back. It was a small scroll, black in colour, with the Lord's seal on the outside. " If we can deliver his message to Lady Kaguya, and we can get her to return to the Grass to convince her father to support the Leaf, we can avoid a civil war. We came all the way from the Kyushu Castle to send this message to the Lady."

" Not that I don't really believe in your abilities, but this mission's importance is way beyond one of a chuunin. Why wasn't this appointed to a jounin, at least?" Hiroshi asked.

" I guess the news should not have reached Konoha yet, but 4 hours ago, the Kyushu Castle was completely leveled to the ground, most of our shinobi comrades killed and wounded, and almost all the inhabitants of the castle killed, including Lord Shishio," Sousuke replied in a deadpan manner.

" What?!" all of them exclaimed.

" Our intel believe that this has been long planned by these radical shinobi to bring down our country. I'm not sure how long their plan had been taken into effect, but a lot of this trouble started about a year ago, so they must have planned very far ahead. Right now, they have struck very quickly. Our forces at the castle have been lost, and the word of the destruction will only reach Konoha in about another 6 hours, at best. Us three were merely picked out of whatever remaining forces was left. Most of the jounins were sent north to intercept a force of them who are suspected to be trying an attempt on Lady Kaguya's life."

" Why?"

" It would be the perfect blow for us. If they manage to assassinate her, Lord Fukushi will have all the reason to not support the leaf, as we allowed her daughter to come to harm. Furthermore, Lord Fukushi has the idea that we actually want this war to happen, since war would only make the weapons business boom. If we were adamant in preventing this, we would do our utmost best to keep her from harm. Also, unfortunately for us, Lady Kaguya is currently at Kanto, where she is taking a holiday in our country. It's a four hour journey from here. We will need to make it there."

Hiroshi wasn't sure what to say, or think about the matter. He had heard this being discussed by some of the officials in the administration office before, but he didn't think it would be this bad. He gripped his fist tightly, wondering who was this rogue group who wanted to topple their economy. Hours ago, he was complaining to his friends this mission was too easy. Now, another mission had been dropped on their laps all of a sudden, one that would hold a lot of importance to their country and its foundations.

" …Ryouta….I have a favour to ask of you…" Sousuke replied.


	6. Chapter 5: Messengers from the Leaf

**Chapter 5: Messengers from the Leaf**

" How are you feeling now, Sora?" Suzumi asked.

Sora moved her hands a little bit, clenching and unclenching her fist once in a while. " There is still this odd numb sensation around my hands, but the heaviness has now disappeared altogether. I'm fine, really," Sora replied.

" It will take some time to flush out the toxins in your body, so that numbing sensation will be staying for a while," Hiroshi replied, checking his pack as all six of them moved along the forest's branches at top speed. " Don't push yourself too much...you've had it the worst amongst all of us, I think!"

" Silence, scumbag! I'm made of far sterner stuff than you could possibly imagine!" Sora scowled at him, shaking her curled up fist right at his face.

" Diagnosis: in perfect health...guess I was worrying too much..." Hiroshi sighed sarcastically. Suzumi merely giggled at the comment.

" Hey..." Makoto started, directing his sentence to Ryouta, who took the lead this time. Ryouta looked back slightly as he jumped from tree branch to tree branch with absolute ease, the rest of them following in a straight line, wondering what Makoto might want to talk about. " I was thinking...was it a wise move for them?"

Ryouta wasn't sure what to say. He continued to jump from one tree branch to another, keeping to himself for a while. " Let's just pray that they make it back alive...we don't have much of a choice in this anyway..." Ryouta answered after a while.

_Several hours ago_

" What is it that you need?" Ryouta asked.

Sousuke took a deep breath, before continuing " I need your help. I would like you to pass this scroll to Lady Kaguya. Once done, she will be convinced to help us, hopefully, and we can avoid the needless conflict. Once that's done, I need you to do your best to escort her out of this country, back to her homeland. The best bet would be to go east towards the mountain ranges, since we have several out posts there near the border area, and it should be easier to get reinforcements from our side to back you up...I'm sorry for putting you all in such a shitty situation, but we have to do this...for the sake of Konoha anyway..."

" You hardly need to ask, Sousuke...we will be more than willing to help out," Ryouta replied.

" Yeah, guess we are your escorts for now," Hiroshi replied, breaking into a broad grin.

" That's nice, but I think Sousuke meant that you will have to be leaving without us," Yuuko replied.

" What!? Are you insane!? What the heck are the rest of you going to do?!" Sora exclaimed noisily, getting up in an instant with some effort.

" Hang on now, let me explain," Sousuke replied, raising his hands. " Look, our enemies know our faces very well, and they are now currently targeting us for the scroll that we have right now. Thus, we know that they are coming for us. If we split up here, and we allow them to pick up our trail to follow us, we might be able to take off some attention from you guys when you head to Kanto."

" One of them escaped. They would know by now that you already have us," Hiroshi argued.

" Not exactly," Yuuko replied. " If we act fast enough, we may be able to hold them off track for some time. As of now, they don't all know that your six are here. If we split here, most of their forces will go after us, and we can buy you all some time to get to Lady Kaguya."

" It's suicide," Makoto argued.

" But someone still has to do it," Sousuke replied. " I look at it this way: my team has been chased for a very long time and tired from constant battle. There is little much we can do in a long run for now, and with Sakita as he is now, we'll be slowing you all down by going to Kanto altogether. Look, I'm not suggesting that we all go on a suicide run. The nearest Leaf outpost is 6 hours away. We should be fairly safe once we get there, but we will do so to direct their attention to us."

" Considering the circumstances, it is the best card we can play right now…" Hibiki replied.

" Hibiki, what are you trying to imply?!" Sora replied, raising her voice exponentially.

" Calm down, Sora. Hibiki's is right," Makoto said, stepping in-between them. " I can only look at it at face value. This will be a battle of attrition at best, which involves us heading towards the mountain ranges at top speed. It can be almost assured that we will run into enemy forces."

" Sousuke and his team has been in constant battles since more than 4 hours ago, assuming they stayed during the castle siege. They are in no position to fight anytime soon, and Sakita's injuries will take at best 1 full day before he is minimally fit for battle, and I'm being optimistic here. A compact team of 6 with two medics will be able to last longer than a team of 9 with an invalid. Besides, the optimum team for lengthy carried out battles is 3 people per medic, and we only have two medics available here. Also, considering that this will involve the entire country, it would be of their best interest to pull off as much pressure off our backs by acting as decoys temporarily as shinobi of the Leaf," Makoto continued.

" Looks like your Sand comrade is much more understanding," Yuuko chuckled.

Hiroshi wasn't sure what to say. He merely stared at Ryouta as he folded his hands and frowned. He needed some time to contemplate on this. Sousuke, Yuuko and Sakita didn't try to interrupt him, and neither did the rest of them. Their leader needed to think, and it was integral that they allowed him to decide what to do next.

" Fine," he said at last, walking up to Sousuke and taking the scroll from his hands. " The three of you will leave some trails for them to follow you to the nearest outpost. The rest of us will leave immediately using the southern route to Kanto to avoid detection as much as possible. I hope you can do a good job keeping them off our backs."

Sousuke cracked into a broad grin. " I assure you that I won't disappoint," he replied.

" I expect to see you again back in the village. You still owe me a teatime snack," Ryouta replied as he turned around.

" Like hell! It was only two sweets!" Sousuke shot back, while the others grinned and smiled as the two of them started to break up the rather tense atmosphere. " I should be more worried about you."

Ryouta tossed the black scroll towards Hiroshi, who caught it easily. " You shall keep it in all those extra item scrolls you carry around. If it does fall into enemy hands, I want to make it as difficult as possible for them to extract it," Ryouta replied. Hiroshi merely nodded. " How's Sora?"

" I've administered the antidote. It should take a while for it to completely take effect, but she's more than ready to move, and her traveling ability will not be hampered," Suzumi replied. Ryouta observed Sora standing up and moving about, especially flexing her hands.

" Good, because we don't have time to waste," Ryouta replied.

_Present time_

Makoto suddenly snapped his fingers twice, and all six of them stopped moving at once, staying still on their tree branches, a quick and swift warning signal for them that he had sensed danger. Hiroshi tensed up all of a sudden, almost scared of the fact that there were more of their enemies lurking around the place, but this was too quick. They had not even delivered the scroll as of yet.

All of them stood perfectly still. Makoto was almost essentially the eyes and ears of the team. His amazing ability to sense sound could be expanded over a large diameter, like a portable radar. Nothing happened for almost 5 minutes, and Hiroshi got a bit tired standing still like some idiot, but he knew better than that. Makoto wasn't one to pull a prank, and if he had a reason to get them to stop, it was a very good reason.

" It seems that they have passed us," Makoto replied.

" Who?" Suzumi asked.

" A number of people in that direction," Makoto replied, pointing to his left. " I was unable to confirm if they were shinobi or not, since they were of some distance away, but I didn't want to risk the fact that they might be, considering the circumstances."

" Don't worry, it was a good call," Ryouta replied.

" Geez, you guys would be hopeless without us," Hibiki replied, grinning with a wicked smirk, while Suzumi's eyes glared at the back of his forehead.

" You know, it's not like I'm not appreciative of you all coming along, but this is Leaf matter," Hiroshi spoke up all of a sudden. " There is, technically, no cause or reason for the Sand to really help, and we hate to pull you all into our messes and policitcs…"

" What the heck is with this negativity? I thought a little thank you form your side would go a long way…" Hibiki scoffed sarcastically, although he later decided it was a bad idea, because Hiroshi seemed serious about this. " Wait…you are serious about this…"

" You have a sudden change of heart? Because you know us so well?" Suzumi asked curiously.

" Especially that…" Hiroshi replied.

" I don't see you suggesting to me to take a hike," Sora replied, folding her arms.

" You wouldn't even take a hike even if I forced you to," Hiroshi rebutted.

Sora pondered upon his statement for a while, before dropping her arms and saying " Point well taken…"

" We are not leaving, whether this is a personal Leaf matter or otherwise, and my teammates will both wholeheartedly agree with me. A small team of three is hardly enough to guard Lady Kaguya, but the six of us will be unstoppable. You helped us before when we were genins, now its time for us to repay our debt. You should know from Hibiki that we are less fickle about this alliance between our countries, but if anything, we will always settle our debts, one way or another," Makoto replied.

Hiroshi wondered if he was supposed to be comforted by these words. By some unfortunate set of circumstances, they had this heavy burden of a task placed on them, but Makoto, Hibiki and Suzumi were willing to share it with them.

" Besides, I find it hard to bail out on my best Leaf friends. If we are to die, it will be more fitting to die together next to my trusted comrades," Makoto said.

There was an awkward pause.

" Ouch!" Makoto yelled out all of a sudden.

" That's sick, you blind bastard! Who the hell is suggesting that we are going to die?!" Sora demanded, placing a well-placed kick to his rear end, almost knocking him off the branch he was standing.

" Don't worry about it, Hiroshi," Ryouta replied, patting his shoulder as he appeared next to him using a body-flicker technique while Sora noisily argued with Makoto, who merely just scratched his head. " I know you care about your Sand comrades, but compassion in this form is an insult to their pride. They don't mind risking their lives for our sake. In return, when the time comes, they only expect you to do the same. That's all to it."

Hiroshi looked at Ryouta, who returned an assuring look. " I'm sorry…I understand…" Hiroshi apologized.

-

" Wow!" Sora gave a loud exclamation.

Kanto was one of the larger cities in the Fire nation, mainly hailed for its tourist attractions and exotic cuisine that was famous throughout the country. Standing at the outskirts of a knoll near the city, they saw Kanto spread out right before them in a sea of buildings and people, a number of large temples and castles spread out around the place. From the looks, it was as if a festival was going on, with a large parade with tons of people marching along with giant, colourful floats. It had an ancient, yet modern feel somehow. Most of the older architecture was retained, but the city felt young somehow, unlike the other heritage cities or towns.

" Sure looks busy…we rarely have cities this big," Makoto commented.

" Where exactly is this lady Kaguya staying?" Suzumi asked.

" Should be at that building right over there…" Hiroshi replied, pointing towards the distance at a large garden-like hotel at the far distance.

" How would you know?" Ryouta asked, sounding surprised.

" Well, I've been here a couple of times, and I've seen Lady Kaguya once before this, and I know she likes to stay there a lot, or so the owner of the place said. She should be there, if not, we can just look around the place," Hiroshi replied.

" Wow, you know a lot of stuff…" Sora replied sarcastically.

" What are you suggesting?" Hiroshi asked, raising his eyebrows.

" Nothing much…" Sora snickered. " Let's go look for her Highness, shall we?"

Ryouta nodded, and the rest of them followed him as he ran down the knoll towards the city walls.

-

All was quiet and peaceful in the Kamigaya Hotel grounds. A lone young maiden could be seen walking through the garden, observing the trees swaying with the wind and the carp fishes swimming gracefully in the nearby pond. Lady Kaguya was dressed in a simple yet elegant kimono as she walked around in the garden.

Suddenly, she felt something behind her. Turning around, she saw two shinobis kneeling on the ground behind her, a male and female shinobi, their Grass forehead protectors proudly displayed on their heads. The male had a thick cotton vest covered with a torn looking blue cloak. Two, very long, sharp, jagged daggers hung by the side of his belt, and his messy red hair hung over his face, partially covering his face. The female was dressed in a simple red T-shirt and short pants, having several weapon packs attached not only on multiple areas on her legs, but on her arms as well, her dark green hair as short as a guy's.

" What is it, Tayu, Kira?" Lady Kaguya asked.

" It seems like some shinobis is approaching. Kira can only assume that their destination is this place," Tayu replied, looking up towards lady Kaguya with her small, slanted brown eyes.

" Perhaps they bear a message from the Leafs? I was supposed to hear from Lord Shioshio sometime now. I'm surprised the letter is a bit delayed," Lady Kaguya replied calmly, turning around when she heard a splash a lone frog jumped into the pond.

" Well, it's highly irregular for them to send 6 people to relay one single message. Also, not all of them are Leafs, Kira noted that there are Sand shinobis as well," Tayu replied.

Lady Kaguya pondered for a while, before one of the hotel servants came up a while later. " Lady Kaguya, there are some Leaf and Sand shinobi waiting outside the hotel grounds, and they claim that they bear urgent news that must be relayed to you at all cost," the servant replied, bowing politely towards her. Kira and Tayu merely looked at each other.

" Let them in," Lady Kaguya replied.

-

Hiroshi wasn't sure how long he had been standing in front of Lady Kaguya as she read the contents of the scroll. He understood that it took some time for her to go through the entire content and understand the significance of the letter. Two of her personal shinobi bodyguards merely looked back at the six of them, the female one with an empty expression, the male one with a serious, dark one. Deciding not to look at them, Hiroshi decided to look at Lady Kaguya instead.

She was relatively young, although older than all of them there, possibly somewhere around the age of twenty. She had this pale complexion, but it didn't make her look sickly in any way. She had a nice oval face with almost perfect complexion. She carried some regal expression with her, which made her look proud, but not in a negative way.

" I understand," she said after what seemed like a while, putting the scroll down on her lap and looking at Hiroshi and the rest of them, smiling gently. " Please tell Lord Shishio that I will return to my country as soon as possible to discuss this with my father, and hopefully, put an end to this unfortunate misunderstanding, and perhaps foster better ties between our countries."

" Lady Kaguya, perhaps you should discuss this with your advisors," Tayu replied.

" There is no need for advisors, I have made up my mind already. Besides, I see no wrong in taking such actions. Messengers of the Leafs, you have my thanks," Lady Kaguya replied, bowing slightly. However, seeing that none of them left their positions made her curious. " Is there…something else you would like to say?"

Ryouta looked nervously around at the rest of his comrades, knowing that it was his task to break the bad news to Lady Kaguya. Makoto merely looked at him, turned his head in his direction rather, and nodded his head.

" I wished that our job was just to deliver this message, but unfortunately, circumstances have changed," Ryouta replied. " Some time ago, Kyushu castle was leveled to the ground, and the situation of Lord Shishio is currently unknown."

" What?!" Lady kaguya exclaimed, her eyes widening in shock.

" Allow me to explain the situation," Ryouta replied firmly. " Our intel tells us that there is this renegade shinobi group that has the intention of disrupting our economy by causing turmoil, which can be triggered by your father, Lord Fukushi, by retracting his supplies. We believe that they are the ones responsible for the assault on Kyushu castle, and we believe their main goal is to assassinate Lady Kaguya in order to change Lord Fukushi's mind completely. The death of his daughter will definitely turn him to look at us as an enemy."

" This is unbelievable!" Tayu exclaimed.

" Unfortunately, it is true," Makoto replied. " Most of the Leaf forces who are aware of the situation are engaging the renegade forces, although there is no guarantee that they can hold all of them back, so some of them might still slip through the net and come after you. They don't know where exactly you are right now, but it will just be a matter of time before that happens."

" I'm surprised to see that the Sand has a hand in this," Tayu replied.

" The Sand and Leaf are good allies, you should know that," Ryouta answered. " Besides, if it wasn't for the Sands, you'll only be stuck with 3 bodyguards."

" 3 bodyguards?" Lady Kaguya mused.

" We have been sent here to protect and escort you back to your home country, in a direction where our reinforcements and your countries reinforcements can meet," Ryouta replied.

" So, you are sending me back?" Lady Kaguya asked.

" The problem in our internal economy seems to have exploded bigger than whatever we could have imagined. This is our safest option, and we need to get you out of this country immediately," Ryouta replied. " Please understand this…"

Lady Kaguya didn't reply, but looked towards the ground, possibly in deep thought, especially with all the confusing things that she had just been told about. However, she recovered her composure quickly, looking firmly in Ryouta's eyes. " I understand perfectly. I shall be leaving the safety of my life in your hands, Captain Ryouta."

" C-Captain?! Wait, no…I'm just a leader, don't address me as captain…" Ryouta replied sheepishly.

" Allow me to introduce two of my personal shinobi retainers: Tayu and Kira. They have served me well over the years, and although they are not jounins, I'm sure their abilities will serve you well," Lady Kaguya replied.

" Ota Tayu, nice to meet you," Tayu replied, breaking into a grin and extending her hand first to Hiroshi to shake, which he took tentatively and she received it vigorously. Hiroshi then turned to eye the other shinobi, the one named Kira, who didn't bother to greet them, but merely run his thumb along the hilt of his daggers. " Please don't mind him, he's a bit shy and he dislikes speaking to strangers, or speaking generally. That's Ishikawa Kira for you," Tayu replied. " So, what's your plan to get us out of this mess?"

" You wish to rely on me?" Ryouta replied.

" Hmph, it's not like I'm comfortable taking orders from a Leaf shinobi, but I can see you have the talent for this kind of stuff. Kira and me, well, we are just bodyguards. I think our odds might be much better if I just stick to listening to you," Tayu replied, before turning to Lady Kaguya. " That is, if that's okay with you, Lady Kaguya."

" I have no problems with it," Lady Kaguya replied.

" How about the silent punk leaning at the corner there?" Hibiki asked, nudging his head in the direction of Kira.

" Oh, he agrees…" Tayu answered.

" …But he didn't say anything…" Suzumi retorted.

" As I said, he's a man of a few words. If he doesn't say anything, it means he agrees. He generally agrees with whatever I agree upon. We've known each other for long enough to know each others tastes," Tayu replied. Hiroshi found it extremely odd that Kira kept remaining silent. From the way Tayu spoke, she probably signified that he wasn't a mute, but yet refused to talk, as if he was trying to achieve the class of an absolute social outcast. It was odd to see Tayu act like his spokeperson. " Why don't you introduce yourselves, and maybe a brief description on your abilities so we can work well in collaborating our combat tactics together. I'm mainly taijutsu based, although I know a couple of ninjutsu techniques, but they are mainly to supplement my taijutsu combat abilities. I'm an expert in using the senbon needle in combat, but that's about all."

Tayu thumbed at Kira's direction. " Kira here is more of an assassination expert, and he's damn good with his knives, plus he's a speedy guy. He knows some wind element manipulation, to supplement his combat abilities, and he has damn keen senses," Tayu explain.

" Fast, eh? How fast?" Sora asked arrogantly.

" Wanna try?" Kira replied in a surprisingly sharp voice, making him sound younger than he really was.

" Wow, do you only respond to challenges?" Sora asked, cracking his knuckles. " Let's have a test, shall we?"

" Hey, Sora!" Hiroshi exclaimed.

There was a sudden movement, and Sora had disappeared from the spot she was on. Something swift past right in front of Hiroshi, and he heard the distinct sound of a blades being drawn from their sheath. Less than a second later, he saw Sora reappear next to him, but this time, Kira had his arms thrown over her shoulders, twirling one of his daggers in his hands and another pressed against Sora's neck.

" Pass…" Sora replied, sounding a little dejected.

" Our resident hot-head and taijutsu expert, Tanaka Sora. I'm Sato Ryouta, leader of this Leaf team, and I'm a ninjutsu specialist in all elements, mainly fire jutsus and elemental manipulation. Suzuki Hiroshi here is our support medic, weapon maintenance, chef and puppet user," Ryouta replied.

" Puppets? You haven't mistaken him for a Sand shinobi, have you?" Lady Kaguya asked.

" We did some training in the Wind country once, and he picked up the Sand shinobi arts there," Ryouta replied.

" I'm Kisurugi Makoto, and I lead this Sand team. I'm a wind ninjutsu specialist, amongst other things. Gendou Hibiki here is an expert in using his spear, and Nagato Suzumi is our medic and genjutsu expert," Makoto replied, introducing his team.

" So, what do you plan to do?" Tayu asked.

" We leave this place," Ryouta replied.

" When?"

" Now would be a very good time..."


	7. Chapter 6: Contact

**Chapter 6: Contact**

" Shouldn't we leave now?" Hibiki asked.

" I guess we should, but we still have few things to take care of as of yet. I mean, Lady Kaguya probably can't leave the place all of a sudden without causing a fuss, so perhaps she needs to go through some channels to hopefully explain why she needs to leave. Also, they will need to get their stuff ready," Hiroshi explained.

" Yeah, I guess...but then why are we out here walking around in this damn town?" Hibiki asked.

" Well, we need to keep an eye on things," Hiroshi replied.

" Well, it's not like these rebels are going to show up anytime soon," Hibiki replied.

Both of them were now walking through the shopping district of Kanto. Much of the wares sold here were much different from what they could find in Konoha, mainly in food and daily wares. Ryouta had asked both of them to just keep a lookout on the surrounding area, just in case any of the opposing forces have arrived and were observing them, and so, both of them set out, slightly eagerly, since Sora was being irritable a per usual. Ryouta had also asked Hiroshi to stock up on anything he might deem necessary, and Lady Kaguya had graciously given him an amount of money to use.

" Hmm, something smells nice," Hibiki replied, sniffing the air at the smell of something delicious waffling in their direction.

" Geez, how can you even think of food at this point in time?" Hiroshi chided.

" Hey, I can't fight on an empty stomach," Hibiki replied.

He walked up excitedly to a nearby dango stall, looking hungrily at the wares. The stall owner was a little taken aback when Hibiki approached, and he had every reason to be, since the person who approached him was a foreign, scarred shinobi with a rather fierce looking face. He only calmed a little when Hiroshi came up as well, smiling as if to apologise for Hibiki's presence.

" Two sticks of dangos, please," Hiroshi replied.

The two sticks were prepared, and both shinobi took one each. As Hiroshi took his first bite of a dango piece, Hibiki had already finished his stick at that point, licking his lips gleefully as he finished whatever scraps he had left in his mouth.

" You know, it does pay to eat slowly and enjoy the meal," Hiroshi chided once more.

" Bah, I know how to enjoy my food..." Hibiki laughed. " So, tell me, why is Sora being such an ass?"

" Isn't she always like that?" Hiroshi asked, chuckling.

" No, not at me, but to you," Hibiki replied. Hiroshi's face seem to fall slightly when Hibiki said that, and Hibiki was of course quick enough to notice it. " I mean, sure, she's a mean one, but I somehow get the feeling that she's bullying you on purpose, not just for jest. I may be totally wrong, but I feel that this is somehow...recent..."

Hiroshi didn't face Hibiki when he answered. " Yeah...it is..."

"...I know I my not be the best person, but you wanna talk about it?" Hibiki asked.

" It's alright, I..."

Hiroshi never finished his sentence. Hibiki held up his hand to silence him, while looking around, his eyes narrowed as he glanced around the area, on a lookout for anything suspicious. Hiroshi wasn't able to spot anything, but Hibiki's reaction was a little cause for concern. He glanced all around him, but he was unable to spot anything. Hibiki had his eyes frantically scanning the area, his combat skills honed to sense presence of things unknown.

" I have a feeling we are being watched," Hibiki replied.

" What makes you so sure?" Hiroshi asked.

" I just know," he replied, before turning around, tossing his dango stick on the floor before breaking into a run. " Come on, we need to get back to the rest and tell them that they are already here!"

" Wait, damn...don't leave me behind," Hiroshi exclaimed, running after Hibiki, who had already taken off and was far ahead.

-

Sometime later, towards the westernmost exit, two figures could be seen walking out of the city. They were dressed in traveling clothes, and had walking sticks in their hands and large backpacks on their backs. They slowly made their way out of Kanto village, moving quietly towards the forest area.

" We will need to hurry. They would be leaving this area soon. Reinforcements must arrive as quickly as possible before they reach safe haven," one of them replied. He was a young teenager with spiky black hair, yet he spoke with some sort of maturity in his voice.

" What's the rush? Their reinforcements can't possibly arrive faster than ours," his companion replied. His companion was a girl his age, with long brown hair that reached her shoulders.

" Regardless, they were alerted to our presence, and they will possibly redouble their efforts to make a move," the young man replied. " That sand shinobi they have is formidable. He could even sense us watching them even though we concealed ourselves so very well."

" Actually, I wasn't very sure myself, but I guess you just confirmed that for me," a voice called out to them.

Both of them went on their guard. There was the sound of something flying in the air, and both of them leaped backwards with an agility only a shinobi could have, dropping their walking sticks and backpacks as they leaped backwards while several kunais struck the spot they were previously standing upon. Looking upwards, they saw two familiar faces, the same two shinobi whom they were tailing not too long ago.

" I guess they took the bait," Hibiki replied, grinning wildly as he held his spear by his side proudly while he glared down at them. The guy merely narrowed his eyes, looking calmly at Hibiki and Hiroshi, while the girl flicked out six kunais, three held within her fingers in each of her hands, bracing herself for a fight. " Honestly, I wasn't totally sure you idiots were hanging around the place, but I guess I was right, and my act got you all leaving at once."

" I guess we fell for his trap," the girl growled. " Come on, Negi. Let's finish this punks and let's get on with it!"

" Wait!"

All of them paused when Hiroshi gave that loud exclamation. Hibiki noticed that he had this odd expression on his face, like he was in a state of denial. The other two looked at Hiroshi, puzzled as to why he exclaimed loudly all of a sudden.

" You..." Hiroshi said, pointing towards the girl. " You look strangely familiar."

" Huh?" the girl replied rudely. " What's up punk? You acting friendly with me all of a sudden?"

" A acquaintance of yours from your former village?" Negi asked.

" Former village?" Hiroshi mused.

" I think he means that she was previously affiliated to the Leafs," Hibiki replied, looking at Hiroshi's slightly confused face. " That means she was a former shinobi of your country. This would explain why you recognise here. Same thing here too, Hiroshi. Guess I should have expected nothing more than some backstabbing sand-runaway to be spying on us."

" Huh?" Hiroshi exclaimed.

" Forgive me, _senpai_. I never really lived up to your expectations, huh?" Negi replied.

" Well, now that you mention it, this boy does seem a tad bit familiar," the girl replied, before her face brightened up slightly. " ...Wait, a minute, aren't you that dumb genin who couldn't throw shurikens properly?"

Hiroshi wasn't sure what to say at that moment. Here they were, people of the same affiliated village, but on opposite sides, bent on engaging each other. Fighting shinobi was one thing, fighting someone of your own village was something else.

" That's right, I remember. Hiroshi, wasn't it? I'm surprised you passed," the girl replied. " What's a green genin doing here in dangerous waters?"

" I-I am not a genin. I'm a Chuunin of the Hidden Leaf, and I will not stand for your insults, Maki!" Hiroshi exclaimed.

" Cute. I'm touched. You at least remembered my name. It only galls a girl when a boy doesn't take her name into memory," Maki grinned mischievously, and Hiroshi was suddenly reminded of Sora all of a sudden. " Too bad about this, I guess I'll be killing one of my former mates."

" Shall I do it for you?" Negi suggested.

" Bah, no need! Hiroshi is a pansy, as far as I can remember. He's weak, that's for sure. Keep that sand pal of yours busy, and when I'm done with this Leaf brat, I'll assist you in dealing with him, considered that you haven't finished him by then. You should know a bit of his tactics, so you might be better off suited to fighting your sand pal," Maki replied.

" Pah, you, Negi, fight me?" Hibiki asked arrogantly.

" I have nothing personal against you, Hibiki, but I guess I must say I'm a bit excited. After all, it's not everyday that I get the chance to try my hands at one of the best prodigies of the Sands," Negi replied, flipping out two tonfas.

" So, since you are with this rebel group that's against the Leafs, I guess it is safe to assume that backstabbing son of bitch Hachi is in this with you, huh?" Hibiki replied. " Tell me, how's he, and the rest of your bloody friends, doing?"

Negi raised his hands up in a guard position, and merely replied " As much as I respect Commander Hachi, your futile attempts at provoking me will be useless. I say save that for the blow you can better inflict by using that spear."

" Do we have to fight them?" Hiroshi asked.

" Of course, you idiot. What kind of question was that? If we stop them here, we might be able to stall the rebels from getting information on our exact position, for a short while. We are definitely taking them down here, and now," Hibiki replied, looking at Hiroshi.

However, it then occurred to him that Hiroshi might not be able to fight. Perhaps fighting someone he knew personally took too much of a toll on him. Shinobi who had abandoned their villages were treated as enemies, regardless of whether they knew them or not. Hibiki's idea was to stop them here before they left. It never occurred to him that Hiroshi might be hesitant to act. Then again, how would he know he knew this girl?

" But...I don't feel comfortable killing someone from my village!" Hiroshi exclaimed.

There was a swoosh, and the feeling of some movement next to them. Hiroshi spun around, only to see Maki jumping on the branch in which he was standing on.

" If you don't wish to fight me, then just curl up and die!" she howled excitedly.

Her curled up fist flew towards his gut, the three kunais aimed to stab him painfully. Hiroshi caught her hand, but the force of the punch threw him backwards, and both of them went sailing into the air.

" Hiroshi!" Hibiki cried in alarm, but his instinct told him not to pursue. Something swiped past his face, almost smacking him in the skull, the blow missing his head only because he swerved his head aside.

" Unfortunately, Hibiki-senpai, your opponent is me!" Negi replied, twirling the tonfa in his left hand before swinging it at his face.

-

Hiroshi rolled aside, skidding along the ground. He pushed Maki off him, and quickly got to his feet to get his bearings. He was quickly greeted by something hard, and fast, striking his face. It knocked the wind out of him. He tasted blood in his mouth, and it wasn't a pleasant feeling. He came crashing on the ground, rolling along the floor until he stopped when he managed to hit the base of a tree.

He painfully picked his body up, knowing full well Maki wasn't going to pause for a single second to allow him to compose himself. As he got up, Maki flung all her kunais towards him. He tried to avoid them, but since he was still winded from the blow, and slightly groggy, he wasn't able to avoid all the attacks, and the kunais struck him in his legs and arms, making him wince slightly.

" Well, guess you are about as pathetic as you used to be…too bad for you, but this looks like my win," Maki laughed, flicking out more kunais.

" Wait, why are you doing this?!" Hiroshi exclaimed, but Maki silenced him by flinging her kunais in his direction once more. This time, he was much more prepared for it, and he ran out of the way, and the kunais struck the tree behind him. His wounds stung slightly, so he yanked out the kunais that were stuck to his body, some of his blood dripping out from his wounds.

" Geez, it really is hard to reason with you, no?" Maki replied, jumping up to one of the higher branches on the trees. " There is no reason, or valid reason in fact. You side with the Leafs, and I side with the side opposing the Leafs. Trust me, I could care less if I gutted you right now. So, would you stop giving a shit about me and start fighting?! Seriously, it is boring if you don't fight back…"

" Why did you leave the Leafs then?!" Hiroshi demanded.

Some part of him, the logical part of him, told him that this was some kind of a childish act. Maki had left and betrayed their village some time ago, and she was a missing-nin. All missing-nins were enemies to the Leaf, regardless of their reasons, her especially more since she was now plotting with some group to topple the Leaf economy. It was frankly useless trying to reason to her. Maybe it was just some bit of humanity that Hiroshi felt that she might have.

" Why do you give a shit?" Maki asked.

Hiroshi didn't answer.

" I hate pricks like you. You apparently are not taking this seriously," Maki replied, twirling her kunais in her hands. " Forget it. I'll kill you quickly. Your attitude is irritating anyway."

Maki threw her hands in a cross, her weapons flying out of her hands in a flash. Hiroshi almost leaped aside, before noticing that the kunais were not flying in his direction. All six kunais flew either above him or towards his sides, not directly at him. He found out why a second later.

Maki flung a second set of kunais in less than a second later, throwing them at a faster speed. All of them connected with the previous set she threw, and with precise accuracy, ricocheted all six of them at Hiroshi, all coming at different angles.

" What?!" Hiroshi yelled.

Hiroshi threw himself forward, knocking two kunais out of his way and throwing his body aside to miss the rest, avoiding them by inches. Maki jumped right in front of him, and threw a whole slew of shurikens at him. Hiroshi merely raised his hands and aimed his weapon launchers at her, firing a whole load of shurikens at them, knocking hers out of the way and sending a whole lot more towards her.

She leaped aside, not until Hiroshi fired three windmill shurikens at her direction. She raised her eyebrows in amusement, seeing how his contraption worked. " Nice, is that some sort of portable weapon box?" she asked.

" Maybe…turn yourself in and maybe I'll consider telling you," Hiroshi replied.

" Nah, lousy deal," she replied.

She whipped her hand to the side, knocking one of the windmill shurikens to the side with her bare hands, not even sustaining a scratch. She flicked her hands around, and with great agility, caught the other two windmill shurikens in her hands without a scratch, bringing them to a stop. Hiroshi could only stare and look in surprise at her skills.

" You know, it's kinda stupid to use weapons against a weapon specialist," Maki replied.

Her attack came so fast, Hiroshi really almost didn't see it coming. Before he knew it, she had already flung two windmill shurikens at him, and both of them had their blades crashing into his chest. He gagged slightly when he felt the impact, and it flung him back towards a tree, knocking the wind out of him again. Maki ran up to him, and with one quick step, sunk a kunai into his chest, burying the edge into his body.

-

The spear came right at Negi's face, but he lifted his tonfa and with great precision, deflected the weapon towards the side. Hibiki's spear missed its mark, scrapping the weapon and diverting off towards the left. Negi slid his weapon across the spear, flipping it around as he attempted to strike Hibiki's face, only to be caught with Hibiki's bare hands. The second tonfa came in from the right, and Hibiki dropped his head to avoid getting hit.

Hibiki skidded backwards to gain some ground, but Negi used this to his advantage, flipping his hands into several seals, Hibiki recognizing the pattern he was using. Hibiki tried to rectify his mistake and rush up towards Negi before he could complete his jutsu, but it was a little too late. Negi flung both his weapons at Hibiki, but he merely spun his spear in front of him, creating some sort of shield of sorts, making the tonfas bounce off his weapon. The tonfas flew off, only to circle back and fly at him from behind.

Hibiki twirled his spear around like some baton to knock them away, but Negi came crashing into him, and he just barely had enough time to raise one of his hands to parry the strike to his chest. An odd whirling sound could be heard, and Hibiki twisted his head aside just as one of Negi's tonfas came flying in to strike his head from behind. It missed, but Negi caught the weapon as it flew past his head, ready to strike back.

Hibiki disengaged himself from Negi and ducked, the tonfa missing him. He struck out his leg to kick Negi, but Negi managed to put some distance between himself and Hibiki, leaping backwards as his second tonfa came flying back to his hand.

" I remember this technique well. Twin Whirling Song technique, or so you called it…too bad it missed like it always did," Hibiki replied.

" But if I recalled, you attempted to stop me from using this jutsu. If it were that lousy, you wouldn't have bothered about it," Negi retorted.

" Heh, well, you know, I'm a bitch. I hate it when you have even the slightest advantage over me…" Hibiki replied.

" However, it is strange…you aren't using any of your techniques. Am I that weak that you do not consider me a threat at all?" Negi asked.

" What, you really wish that I would use my techniques on you?" Hibiki asked. " Since when did you get that arrogance from?"

" Still as ill-mannered as before," Neji replied. " Well, since if you won't show it to me willingly, I'll just make you show them forcefully."

He formed several hand seals, finishing with a Tiger seal, before twirling his tonfa several times.

" That is, if you manage to stay alive," Negi retorted darkly.

He flung his tonfa at Hibiki, but this time, Hibiki could sense that there was something obviously different with his weapon. Obviously, he didn't wish to block it, so he jumped away, allowing the tonfa to swung right by him towards his back.

The tonfa hit a tree and exploded. Not explode in a ball of fire and flame, but more it expanded a burst of chakra, tearing the bark of the tree to pieces. Hibiki wasn't too sure of the specifics, but he assumed Negi managed to pour some of his chakra into his weapon and exploded it upon contact with something. Definitely not something he wanted to touch.

Negi drew his arm back, ready to fling his second tonfa at him, and glancing slightly to the back, he noticed the one he had thrown was circling back to him, ready for another strike. _Maybe I should pull out all the stops…besides, I'm worried about my idiot Leaf pal anyway…_ Hibiki thought.

He raised his spear and held his weapon with both hands, closing his eyes to focus quickly. Soon enough, he flowed his chakra into his weapon, manipulating the element so that it was now coated in a sheen of wind, the blade sharpened beyond reckoning. Negi flung his tonfa right at him, and now both weapons where flying in his direction.

" Dance of the Swallows…" Hibiki whispered silently.

Both tonfas were dangerously close to hitting him right now.

" First Waltz."

Hibiki disappeared the instant Negi's tonfas crashed into each other. Negi looked in surprised as his weapons fell to the ground, both of them ripped in half, unable to even explode upon contact, while Hibiki merely disappeared all of a sudden, moving faster than his eye could track.

" Second Waltz."

He heard the last two words float by his ear, just as Hibiki suddenly took form right in front of him, before throwing his spear hand forward. Negi barely felt the blade enter his body, the movement so quick and swift, as if the spear merely went through thin air. He was looking down at his chest, where the weapon stuck out from his body. He barely felt any pain, nor the sensation of blood running down his body. He looked slightly bewildered, before starting to cough out blood.

" You're too nice. You severed my spinal cord, didn't you? I can't seem to feel a thing…" Negi replied, blood dripping out of his mouth.

" Really? Must be a coincidence, really. I mean, would I even give a rat's ass about you? You must be dreaming. The loss of blood is making you think otherwise," Hibiki replied, grinning fiercely.

Negi looked a bit dumbfounded, before his relaxed his expression, as if accepting his fate. " Yeah…yeah, you're right…y-you…you are always right…_senpai…_" Negi replied, before loosing consciousness. Hibiki slid the spear out of his body, and Negi fell to the ground, never to get up again, a pool of blood forming around his body.

Hibiki flicked his spear, throwing off the blood on his weapon, before he looked at his former comrade. Hibiki didn't really remember him much, only the times when Negi said how cool he was years ago. Other than that, he was just some deserter from the Sand. Hibiki refused to think of Negi as anything more than that.

" Tch!" Hibiki made a noise under his breath, before remembering that Hiroshi might still be in trouble.


	8. Chapter 7: Coming to Terms

**Chapter 7: Coming to Terms**

Maki twisted the kunai that stuck through Hiroshi's chest as he stared wide-eyed at the blade. She grinned, somewhat rather excitedly at the sight of him in sight agony. However, she realized something odd. The kunai didn't sink in as deep as she thought it usually does, and he didn't seem to be bleeding either, not much at any rate.

Hiroshi swung his arm and socked her in the gut as hard as he could afford, before firing off a couple of kunais into her gut. Maki gave a low groan and leaped backwards immediately, leaving a trail of blood on the ground from her wound. She pulled out the kunais stuck to her gut, throwing the bloodstained weapons to the side.

" You…" she snarled. " What the hell in the world are you wearing?"

Hiroshi yanked out the kunai that was embedded in his chest and tossed it aside as well, before pulling out the windmill shurikens that were stuck there as well, throwing them aside. He was bleeding slightly, but not seriously. His new prototype vest managed to save his life somehow, absorbing most of the blow from the weapons. Too bad he couldn't really mass produce this, since it was mainly custom made, and he had only a couple of sets to spare, mostly for him.

" Nothing really fantastic, I can assure you that much," Hiroshi replied darkly. Maki frowned and made a tch'ing noise under her breath. " So what if you are a weapon specialist? I'm a weapon specialist myself, and my level of weapon proficiency is far higher than the likes of yours."

Hiroshi pulled out one of his scrolls and whipped it open, running some of his blood on the piece of paper. Maki's eyes widened in surprise as she saw Hiroshi produce two puppets, one a humanoid figure that was supposed to resemble himself somewhat, while another was a massive snake, roughly 15 meters long. Hiroshi flicked his fingers effortlessly, and attached the chakra lines to his puppets, and they started to cackle menacingly.

" Puppets?! Impossible!? How'd you learn the sand arts?!"Maki exclaimed.

" Well…you know my answer…" Hiroshi replied.

Maki caught him flick his left hand's middle finger, and predictably, the humanoid puppet started to move. Its chest cavity opened up, and from within its depths shot out multiple kunais. Maki leaped aside, only to spot him moving his snake up towards her, it's jaw wide open, threatening to swallow her up whole. She flipped backwards, the snakes jaws missing her by inches. She dug from within her pockets and flung out several kunais, but they merely bounced off the snake's body harmlessly.

Something dropped by next to her, and Maki spotted the humanoid puppet right next to her. It swung its hand right at her, and she raised hers to block the blow, which came in hard and fast. She winced as the strike came, the puppet generating more force with less effort than a normal human could make. She heard the sound of something clicking, and she leaped away, thinking that Hiroshi was preparing his mechanical contraption for some attack. It didn't come.

" A feint?!" she exclaimed.

The snake rushed to her position, rising up to unleash its deadly strike. She changed her footing, and twisted herself aside just as the snake smashed into the ground she was standing upon, breaking up the ground. However, she felt another presence behind her, and when she spun around, she came face to face with Hiroshi.

" What?!"

He gave a swift kick towards her gut, which she deftly blocked, but still he managed to distract her. As she blocked the kick, he flicked his puppet forward, and the humanoid puppet came flying towards her, executing a spinning kick from behind. It knocked her silly, and she went crashing into a tree. As she tried to stand up, Hiroshi sent his snake puppet right towards her.

" Don't look down on me!" Maki screamed loudly.

Hiroshi saw her fling something swiftly into the snake's gapping jaw, and he had reason to suspect that it was an explosive note. This was confirmed in less than a second later when there was a large explosion, which engulfed the snake, and made Hiroshi wince. When it died down, he took a look around. Maki had jumped up on one of the branches, and she surveyed the damage she had done.

Hiroshi's snake puppet were in pieces all over the place, the segments lying all over the place, the head apparently missing, possibly taking most of the damage as the blast exploded right in the middle of the jaw, breaking it to bits. Hiroshi merely looked at the remains of his puppet, frowning, which Maki seemed to be grinning at him again.

" Sorry about your puppet, Hiroshi…I'm sure you can fix it up again somehow…" Maki giggled. She then leaped off the branch, and when she landed on the ground, she dashed right up towards him.

Hiroshi raised his hand and flicked his fingers forward towards himself. All of a sudden, the remains of his snake puppet suddenly shot back to life. Maki stared in amazement as all the pieces converged upon her, the entire body of the snake fixing itself up again all around her, and soon enough, she found herself wrapped within the coils of his puppet, with only the head missing.

" What?!" Maki exclaimed.

" Hebi here is a little special. I can detach his joints at will, so they can spread out and minimize area based damage, and I can join back whatever remaining pieces, since they can be controlled separately," Hiroshi replied.

" Damn it!" Maki replied, struggling to free herself.

" It's no use…" Hiroshi said. " Tell me, Maki, why did you leave the village?!"

" Why don't you just shut up and die?!" Maki answered, but with a voice coming from right behind him.

Hiroshi spun around, only to see Maki standing right behind him, a kunai in one of her hands. She grabbed his shoulders and grinned maliciously as she raised her kunai into the air, ready to bring it down on one of his less defended spots. Hiroshi saw the kunai come swinging down, and all he did was close his eyes as he heard the sound of metal piercing flesh as he waited for his life to end. Except no excruciating pain followed up from the sound. He opened his eyes ever so slightly.

Maki held the kunai inches from his face, with a dazed look on her face. At once, Hiroshi spotted the edge of a spear thrust through her chest, the blade sticking out from her chest. Maki looked about as shocked and surprised as he was, before Hiroshi noticed her eyes seemed to lose focus altogether as her life expired out of her, ended by Hibiki's spear.

Hibiki unceremoniously yanked out his spear, spraying some blood on Hiroshi as he allowed her to collapse on the ground. Hiroshi watched as her body fell, dropping on the floor with a thud, her lifeless eyes staring into the distance as a pool of blood started to collect from beneath her. It was only when he heard the sound of approaching footsteps did he look up, and he saw Hibiki had stepped up to him.

First thing he did was to slap Hiroshi, insanely hard.

" The hell do you think you are doing?! Are you trying to show the enemy pity?! She's the enemy now, not some acquaintance from your village! Why are you even bothering to show her pity, asking dumb questions like why you left the village?!" Hibiki yelled angrily, as he smacked Hiroshi to the ground. Hiroshi didn't reply, but merely stared at Maki's dead body. Hibiki picked him up roughly by his collar before yelling some more. " Are you trying to get yourself killed?!"

Hiroshi didn't answer, as if he had become mute all of a sudden. Hibiki didn't know if what to make of it. It seemed like Hiroshi might have harboured the idea of Maki still having some loyalty, or that he was just uncomfortable with killing someone from his own village.

Hibiki took a deep breath and tried to think. Negi wasn't someone of importance to him, and he had just taken his life like any other. Granted, if he was fighting Makoto, he might have hesitated a little, but Hibiki figured that Hiroshi wasn't as violent as he was. Living in the harsh desert lands made him tough, and cold to the level where he could disregard life in a way. Hibiki had killed people for some years now, even as a genin. Hiroshi, as far as Hibiki knew, probably hasn't killed anyone in his life as of yet, casually anyway.

His thoughts then drifted to Suzumi for a while. It seemed ironic that considering Suzumi, she would probably hesitate trying to fight Negi as well anyway. So, if he could accept the idea that Suzumi was soft, would it be valid for Hiroshi to be soft as well?

Hibiki sighed, softening his tone as he spoke to Hiroshi. " …Sorry about that. Let's go back and get Suzumi to fix you," he said, helping Hiroshi move by slinging his hand over his shoulder and pulling him along, since Hiroshi looked a little too dazed to talk.

-

Hibiki winced as he suddenly heard a piercing screaming coming from Suzumi as both of them entered the room. She immediately jumped up and yanked Hiroshi away from Hibiki's grasp, looking all over him, seeing the cuts and wounds on his body. It wasn't serious and his life was in no danger, but maybe Suzumi got alarmed at the long gashes he sustained and the half-dazed look on his face, which might have implied that he was sick or something.

" Hiroshi! Hiroshi! Oh God, are you alright?!" Suzumi exclaimed, sounding slightly beside herself. " Hiroshi, say something, please!"

Hiroshi looked around the room in an absent-minded manner, as if he didn't recognize the people around or the surroundings he was in. His eyes finally focused on Suzumi's worried face before he seemed to register some recognition on his face, before he replied " …Yeah, I'm fine, Suzumi…"

" What happened to him?" Makoto asked. " Forget that, what happened to the two of you?"

" Hmm, well, we ran into a couple of agents working for the group we are up against, and I thought it might be prudent to stop them from passing on any useful information, like our location. I've dealt with them, personally, but I supposed that they would figure out that our location is here if they don't hear from their agents after a while, so it's not safe to stick around anymore," Hibiki answered.

" But then, what happened to Hiroshi?" Ryouta asked. " Did he get hit by some powerful genjutsu?"

" Nah, nothing of that sort. He's just in shock," Hibiki replied.

" Shock?" Sora asked.

" One of the two people we tried to stop was someone he recognized from your village. Maki was the name, think. Apparently, he didn't take it too well that I stabbed her right in the middle, and he's been like that ever since," Hibiki answered.

" Maki? That bitch?!" Sora groaned. " Damn, I wanted to get the chance to sock her…"

" It might explain why he seems to be in shock. I guess Hiroshi still isn't too used to killing people, even more so for people he used to know, even vaguely," Ryouta replied calmly, before turning to Hibiki. " I'm sorry about my teammate's weakness. He must have caused you some amount of trouble. I hope you can forgive him for that…"

" Geez, it was nothing…" Hibiki replied. He suddenly felt a number of eyes landing upon him, and he took a look. Apparently, Lady Kaguya, along with Tayu and Kira, were looking at their discussion with apprehensive faces.

" I apologise…did we scare you?" Ryouta asked apologetically.

" No, I'm fine, maybe a little surprised to hear that they have arrived this quickly," Lady Kaguya replied. " Will Hiroshi be alright?"

" Bah, that pansy will be fine…we'll just drag him along if he isn't feeling too well," Sora answered, not before everyone turned their apprehensive looks from Hibiki towards her. " What?! Was it something I said?" she replied, sounding oblivious to what she said.

" Hey, the second person they sent along with this Maki kunoichi is Negi," Hibiki replied, rounding on his teammates.

" What?! You mean Negi, from our class?!" Suzumi exclaimed in alarm.

" Yes, indeed it was him..." Hibiki answered.

" And..." Suzumi continued, looking very sad, unable to continue the sentence.

" Yeah, I killed that dirty traitor," Hibiki replied in a low voice. It was going to affect Suzumi regardless of whether he phrased the sentence nicely or not. " So, I guess Hachi and the rest of them are in this damn troop as well."

" There is no doubt about it...hmph, irony is abound in the world of the shinobi," Makoto replied with a heavy voice. " Ryouta, we need to move now. We may throw their agents off our tracks now that we have dispatched them, but our advantage lies in us moving as quickly as we possibly can right now."

" I understand. Alright everyone, we need to pack up and move out. 10 minutes tops! Lady Kaguya, I apologise for the inconvenience, but we need to pack up now. Do what is necessary and get ready to leave," Ryouta replied.

Lady Kaguya merely bowed at him, and left the room, along with Kira and Tayu. The rest of his teammates started to move about, getting ready to leave. He gave a fleeting glance at Hiroshi, who was now being tending by a very worried Suzumi, before leaving the room to settle some things.

-

" Hey, Hiroshi, feeling alright?" Ryouta asked.

" It's...alright...it was just a moment of weakness..." Hiroshi stammered.

Most of them had gathered at the front entrance ready to leave. Sora was busy telling something which she deemed of great importance to Suzumi, who was only listening to her half-heartedly as she continued to give Hiroshi worried glances. Hibiki and Makoto were discussing some topic of importance as well, judging from the looks on their faces when the discussion was going on.

" I don't blame you for falling in shock like that. Granted, it is tough to face someone you know in a fight, even more to kill them, but that's the way the shinobi world goes. Maki betrayed her village, which means she betrayed us. That's all to it, and we have to accept it as a fact," Ryouta replied. " Hesitating in battle will only get you killed. You, of all people, should..."

" Damn it, I know...you don't have to very well remind me!" Hiroshi hissed in an irritated voice, making Ryouta back off slightly. Hiroshi seemed to regret his words, as he recoiled himself and tried his best to shrink himself, with very lousy results. " I'm sorry...I know what you all are trying to get at...I'm just…immature…"

Ryouta merely sighed. " Look, we can't view people who abandoned our village as friends, or former comrades anymore. They are traitors, and they should be treated with the respect they deserve. If you are to hesitate, do remember that they will not," he answered back. " You need to buck up now, Hiroshi. You have the skills, but not the will to carry it out."

" Is…is killing someone you know this easy?" Hiroshi asked.

Ryouta merely stared at him, then gave him an apologetic look, before patting his shoulders and said " …You'll get used to it," Ryouta replied.

" …Have you gotten used to it?"

" …Always had, I guess…"

" I apologise for being late," Tayu replied stepping out. Lady Kaguya followed from behind, now dressed in common clothing instead of her usual lordly garbs, while Kira followed up from behind, his hands on his blades, and the look on his eye as if keeping a watch out for danger nearby. " Well, what's the plan, Leaf-nin?"

Ryouta took out a scroll from his pack, opened it and placed it on the floor, making everyone come up to him as they looked at the map that was drawn on it. Ryouta pointed to a specific point on the map, which showed a city. " This is currently where we are. Assuming most of the enemy forces were in the direction of Lord Shishio's castle, then we can assume they are heading here from the west. Hibiki, did the two scouts run of to the west as well?" Ryouta asked.

Hibiki looked in a certain direction, as if to get his bearings, before looking at the sun. " Yes, roughly…" he answered a second later.

" So, I assume they are coming to us from the west, so we need to head east. Lady Kaguya's country is in that direction, regardless. Hmm…now, which route shall we take?" Ryouta mused.

" How about we head south, instead of east? Assuming they think that they think we are heading east back to the Grass village, we might be able to bypass them by heading south. Shouldn't there be like some outposts there were we might be able to procure reinforcements?" Sora suggested.

" Very risky. Going south at our position requires us to take a mountain path, which will be difficult, not to mention only the three of you here are familiar with the surroundings. If we don't make it pass the mountain trail before they catch up, we are as good as dead," Makoto replied.

" He has a point…but that would mean a straight trail to the Grass village then," Hibiki replied. " I say we head straight ahead using the highroad. It's the quickest way there."

" That's an absolutely bad idea," Suzumi remarked. " Using such methods of travel makes it easy for our enemies to track us, especially over plain open land."

" There should be a few small villages along the way. Why don't we follow that trail? Not only are we going along a fixed path, but we can resupply along the way, and it should be fairly quick," Tayu suggested.

" That may be a good idea, but why don't we keep a low profile? Staying in the deeper parts of the forest areas might be a good way to throw them off track, and it's an excellent area to set up traps and diversions to set them in the wrong path, and with Hiroshi's skill at that, we might be able to delay them," Makoto suggested.

" I will have none of that…" Ryouta replied.

All of them turned to him, wondering what he had in mind.

" There are three main cities along the way. We will stop by each of them, while keeping close to the woodland paths," Ryouta replied.

" Cities? But…"

" Exactly, they are populated. Means there will be a lot of people. Now, the cities are not located in a linear path, so it is impossible for them to know which city we will be heading next, where they might be able to ambush us. Hiding in a large population will allow us to be kept hidden. Furthermore, within cities, it is unlikely that our enemies can make too much of a fuss, if not to draw attention to our forces to come to our aid. Plus, assuming that since all of you think cities are a bad place to go, our enemy will think the same, and won't bother checking them out in too much detail," Ryouta explain.

Makoto broke into a broad grin and clapped Ryouta on his back. " Brilliant as ever. I like your plan," he replied.

" Still, what if they do catch us there?" Tayu asked.

" Regardless, we all run a chance of risk. I'm taking the quickest path with the least amount of risk involved," Ryouta replied. " If you have any other objections, or suggestions, I don't mind hearing them now."

Nobody said a word, and Ryouta took it that they all agreed with him. " Alright, now since we are in agreement, let's discuss our formation."

" We will be using a buddy system, where we will, and always, until the end of this mission, stay in pairs. I must stress the importance of us keeping an eye out for our partners backs, and vice versa, because this is going to be one hell of a dangerous mission, and sometimes we will have to rely solely on our partners capabilities," Ryouta replied. " Tayu, Kira, we aren't too familiar with the extent of your abilities and skills, so I will have to trouble you to work together for now, since both of you must be familiar with each other's tactics."

Tayu merely waved her hand in a salute. " Understood," she replied. Kira didn't answer, but stare at Ryouta with a dark, brooding look.

"Suzumi, you are with me," Ryouta replied. " Makoto, you go with Sora, and Hibiki, you stick with Hiroshi."

" Why can't I go with Suzumi?" Sora scowled.

" I have my reasons," Ryouta replied. " Now, on another agenda. We may move in pairs, but as a rule of thumb, I will require at least 2 of either Makoto, Hiroshi, Suzumi or Tayu to stay by Lady Kaguya's side at all times, no matter what happens, and this goes the same to their respective partners as well."

" Why?" Hiroshi asked.

" Because the four of you have the best defensive capabilities in our team: Hiroshi with his traps and weapon proficiency, Makoto and his sand armour, Suzumi and her genjutsu, and Tayu using her needles. I will require at least two of you to stay close to Lady Kaguya at all times," Ryouta replied.

" How'd you know my needle jutsus can be used defensively?" Tayu asked, raising her eyebrows.

" Just a hunch…but it looks like I am right…" Ryouta replied, smirking at her. " Next, I will need all of you to keep Hiroshi and Suzumi's safety as top priority, next to Lady Kaguya of course."

" Eh? Why me?" Hiroshi exclaimed.

" Shouldn't that be obvious?" Sora scowled. " You are our medic-nin. This mission is going to be a long, arduous one. If we lose either of you two early on, we will be hard pressed to continue without medical aid."

" Exactly…considering you are our weapon and trap specialist as well, we have all the more reason to keep you safe. That's why Hibiki and I are taking care of both of you respectively. It's not like I disregard your combat capabilities," Ryouta replied. " Understood?"

Hiroshi merely looked aside and nodded his head, not saying a word.

" Alright, shall we move out?" Ryouta asked.

All of them nodded their heads. Tayu gently carried Lady kaguya on her back, and upon Ryouta's signal, all of them leaped onto the roof of the inn and rushed off towards their predetermined direction, gone within several seconds.


	9. Chapter 8: Long Road Ahead

**Chapter 8: Long Road Ahead**

Ryouta lead the way as the entire group made their way along the forest path, leaping over tree branches as they made their way along the set path designated by Ryouta as he took the lead. Ryouta had a fairly good sense of direction, so he didn't really need to check his position to make sure he was going in the correct direction. Everyone moved in their alloted pairs, all on a linear line. Nobody had said so much as a word since they left. Hiroshi wondered what was it with all the awkward tension. Deciding to break the ice amongst all of them, he suddenly spoke up.

" We've been traveling for a while now...should one of us carry Lady Kaguya in your place?" Hiroshi suggested.

Tayu had been carrying Lady Kaguya since departing, which was several hours ago. Although she didn't outwardly show it, she was probably tired by now. Shinobi's usually trained themselves to attain a higher level of stamina and constitution than the regular person, but carrying a weight equal to oneself for several hours should be fairly tiring, even if one regularly trains in taijutsu.

" What? Hey, you all aren't carrying her!" Tayu replied, sounding affronted.

Hiroshi wasn't too sure what was the problem, especially with the tone in her voice suggesting that Hiroshi had suggested something insulting. After all, he was suggesting to help her, so he could not imagine what the problem was.

" Hiroshi is right, you can't possibly carry her for the entire journey," Makoto replied.

" Hey, we'll be taking a couple of periodic breaks, so I'll be fine," Tayu replied.

" I cannot allow that," Ryouta replied, looking behind him as he spoke while continuing to move forward. " You will tire yourself soon enough. I can't have you getting tired just in case we run into some trouble."

Tayu stopped in her tracks, forcing everyone to pause in their tracks as well. " Tayu?" Lady Kaguya mused.

" Now, hang on a minute, fellas. Lady Kaguya's female, alright, and someone of status. I...well, I don't feel comfortable with you people handling her personally..." Tayu muttered in an undertone. " Look, I don't even allow Kira to carry her."

" ...I wouldn't mind..." Lady Kaguya replied.

" Hey, but I do!" Tayu replied.

Hibiki looked at her wryly while Ryouta scratched his head. Hiroshi perhaps understood where she was getting at. Perhaps she was just worried the males in this group might do something inappropriate towards Lady Kaguya.

Sora brought up a suggestion. " Well, would you let me carry her then? If you are worried these guys might do something funny with her, then why not allow me to carry her in your stead once in a while?"

Tayu looked a bit apprehensive. " Well...I guess you are fine..." Tayu replied.

" How about me?" Suzumi suggested.

" Better not. You aren't as physically tough as Sora is," Hibiki replied, before commenting " No offense, really..." when he saw the affronted look on her face.

" Alright, switch with Sora for now," Ryouta instructed. Lady Kaguya climbed off Tayu's back and Sora quickly jumped to her side and picked her up ever so gently, which surprised Hibiki and Hiroshi a bit.

" Relax, you are in safe hands," Sora replied.

" I'll be counting on you," Lady Kaguya replied, smiling towards her.  
" Alright, let's continue," Ryouta replied.

Makoto snapped his fingers twice, and the whole group came to a immediate halt. Hiroshi tensed up immensely, worried that someone had been following them for some time now. Makoto didn't move for a while, as he kept silent as he carefully listened to whatever his sharp ears could pick up. Ryouta waited for his reply, but Makoto didn't reply anytime soon. All of them stood at their spots for more than a couple of minutes of silence, all of them knowing better than to disrupt Makoto in the process.

" …Strange…" Makoto mused.

" What is it?" Ryouta asked.

" Maybe I'm just being overly paranoid, but I could almost swear that I sensed some movement from behind us," Makoto replied. " Faint, and distinctly different from the norm, but maybe it's because I'm stretching my limits."

" How far are you keeping an eye on the surroundings?" Ryouta asked.

" 2 kilometers in diameter," Makoto replied.

" That's a bit of an overkill. Your optimum scanning range is 1 kilometer," Hibiki replied. " 2 kilometers gives a margin of error. Heck, whatever you sensed was vague, I bet you can't even really determine what it was."

" I know…" Makoto replied. " But I sensed it twice…"

Hiroshi and Suzumi turned to look at Ryouta, who frowned at that sentence. " Makoto, do a thorough check," he replied.

" On it," Makoto replied. Hiroshi saw him carefully perform his selected seals, before focusing his chakra to his ears. All of a sudden, a strange sensation ran through his ears. It took in every vibration it could absorb, from wherever it came from. The vibrations transmitted into his ears relayed an image to his mind, a mental picture of the entire area. It first expanded to a kilometer, then 2, until it reached a massive span of 5 kilometers in diameter. His 'Sonar Relay Sensing Technique' was perfect, when he focused on it completely. There was nothing throughout 2.5 kilometers from where they were that he could deem suspicious, or his ears could pick up.

" …Nothing…" Makoto said after a while.

" See, nothing to be worried about…assuming that they were within range, it was quite impossible for them to suddenly disappear within a kilometer range all of a sudden," Hibiki replied. " Try not to give all of us a heart attack next time, alright?"

" Makoto, I know you are worried, but I'd like to avoid unnecessary caution. Just keep to scanning the area in your optimum range, alright?" Ryouta replied.

Makoto scratched his head and grinned sheepishly. " My apologies…" he replied.

" Well, since you have brought this up, we may was well take extra precautions. We'll take a short break before moving on, and Makoto, you can use this time to determine whether or not there are people following us, alright?" Ryouta replied. Makoto merely nodded.

All of them followed Ryouta as he leaped off the branch he was on and walked some distance towards a small stream nearby. Sora laid Lady Kaguya back down on the ground before stretching herself. The rest of them propped themselves either on a nearby tree, or took a sip from the refreshing waters fro the stream nearby.

" Hey, Hiroshi, get us something to eat, will you?" Ryouta replied. Hiroshi nodded, and was about to walk off when Ryouta replied once more. " Hey, remember what I said: never go anywhere without your partner."

Hibiki walked over and threw his arms over Hiroshi's shoulder, breaking into a grin right at his face. " That's right, don't leave me alone. I do apologise if I do not provide adequate companionship for you, buddy…"

Hiroshi merely groaned loudly as the girls giggled at him.

Hiroshi returned a few minutes later, laden with wild fruits and nuts he had managed to collect throughout the forest they were in, and all of them were quietly eating whatever he had brought along. Suzumi had to admit although they were just eating fruits, they were very sweet, and she somehow wondered if Hiroshi had a knack of picking good pieces. Hiroshi was unable to cook anything for them to eat, since starting a fire might just reveal their position to the enemy.

However, everyone ate in silence. Nobody said a word as they muched on their berries or chewed on their nuts. Even Sora surprisingly kept quiet, although from the expression on her face, she looked like she was about to burst out from this silent treatment, like a bomb about to explode. However, perhaps Hibiki noticed this, and decided to break the silence.

" So, why are you so quiet?" he asked.

Everyone turned to look at him, before turning their gaze towards Kira, who merely looked at all of them with a brooding look. Hiroshi could not be sure whether he was angry, or that his facial features were natural in that way. He looked pissed, although Hiroshi was quite sure he somehow wasn't.

" Unless you are unnaturally unsociable…" Hibiki replied. Hiroshi wondered why this felt so familiar, before remembering that Hibiki used to be cold and indifferent towards Hiroshi and his Leaf teammates in the past, although he did communicate with them, usually to give some scathing remark.

" He's…well, shy, I guess…" Lady Kaguya replied.

Ryouta and Makoto turned to one another, and Hiroshi could almost swear that they were about to burst out laughing that very instant Lady Kaguya said those words. It was a highly unnatural way of being shy.

Kira still kept quiet, not even bothering to speak for his sake. Everyone waited, as if wanting him to speak. His narrow eyes scanned the area, as if he was waiting for someone to pick up for him. Seeing that nobody was saying anything else, he took a short breath and replied " What, waiting for me to speak?"

Hiroshi was suddenly reminded of Sora's style of speech. He sounded slightly sarcastic, and had some tone of pride, or was it arrogance, in his voice. However, he wasn't as loud as she was, and his voice somehow sounded very young and boyish, as if like he didn't hit puberty yet. Hiroshi wondered if that was likely.

Kira had a fairly excellent build, his sinews bulging from his biceps and legs, evidence of his superior taijutsu skills. His messy hair seemed to fall naturally on his face, covering his eyes slightly, as if he was trying to hide himself. He had this dark forbidding aura around him, and if Hiroshi had to place finger on what this aura was, it was an aura of death. Kira was the perfect epitome of an assassin. It was his very boyish, young voice that just didn't fit. A sudden thought struck Hiroshi: was that the exact reason why he doesn't talk, because it would spoil his image?

" So, how long have you two been serving Lady Kaguya?" Suzumi asked.

" Well, I would probably say recently, I guess. I mean, it's hardly possible to allow a couple of genins to guard an important figure, no? It was only until we became chunnins were we assigned to Lady Kaguya, by her insistence, of course," Tayu replied. " But I guess we know Lady Kaguya for some time now."

" How?" Sora asked.

Tayu didn't answer. " Urm...well, it's a long story..." she replied, looking away and obviously avoiding the question. Hiroshi looked at Lady Kaguya, who looked like she was giggling silently, her hand over her mouth.

" Tayu got lost once, and was crying in the streets, bawling loudly. Lady Kaguya was nice enough to come up and bring her back home," Kira muttered quietly.

Sora and Suzumi burst in a fit of giggles, while Tayu looked outraged. " Kira, how dare you talk about it?!" she exclaimed, while Lady Kaguya started laughing now.

" I can see why he's so quiet," Hiroshi replied. " It's evidently to keep embarrassing secrets about you silent."

At this point, everybody was laughing out loud. Hiroshi felt a bit glad that they somehow got to know more about their new companions, the Grass-nins. Tayu pouted slightly as they laughed at her, while Kira kept a passive, moody face, despite just cracking a joke. Was he being comical, or was he just being frank? Hiroshi couldn't really be sure.

However, just as their laughter settled down, Ryouta stood up. " Well, sorry to break up this small party, but our break time is up. Let's move out..." he replied. All of them quickly packed their stuff, left as little evidence as possible to tie them to resting on this spot and leaped up on the tree branches, heading towards their destination.

The sun at this point had started to set, and the sky turned into a dark, orange hue. They had a couple of breaks before this, but they kept their movement constant. They had gained some distance at this point, and according to the maps, and the speed they were moving, they should be able to reach the next town by nightfall.

Hiroshi was getting a little tired. He wasn't specifically trained to move long distances over long periods of time, and to think that they still had a lot of ground to cover as of yet. He wasn't the only one. Suzumi looked a little beat as well, the signs of fatigue on her face. The rest of the troop looked like they didn't have any problems. Ryouta and Makoto still looked fairly fresh, and Hibiki and Sora certainly didn't have any trouble with their stamina and build, even if Sora was carrying some extra weight half the journey.

" You okay?" Hiroshi asked.

" Urm...yeah...but you don't look all that well yourself..." Suzumi replied, smiling warmly. Hiroshi blushed at the comment.

" Jeez, keep up the pace, will you?" Sora scowled, carrying Lady Kaguya on her back.

" Well, don't blame them. Not everyone has your bursting spirit..." Lady Kaguya replied.

" ...I'm not sure what to say to that..." Sora replied awkwardly.

" Just keep it up a bit more, we are almost at the city already. Once there, I guess we can get some rest," Ryouta replied.

" I guess so..." Hiroshi replied.

" Tired?" Ryouta asked sympathetically.

" You bet I am," Hiroshi replied. " I wish we can get a break soon."

" Unfortunately, that might not be the case..." Makoto suddenly replied.

Everybody turned to him all of a sudden. Makoto had a serious face on. Hiroshi wondered if Makoto had somehow sensed something again. However, he didn't signal for them to stop like he usually would. The situation suddenly became a little tense.

" Makoto, what do you mean?!" Ryouta exclaimed.

" Don't stop moving, I'll explain while we move," Makoto replied, with a sudden sense of urgency in his voice. " Remember earlier that I sensed something that apparently wasn't there. I may be mistaken, but my six sense is telling me otherwise. I have no reason to suspect that someone is following us from behind, but I feel otherwise somehow."

Nobody was quite sure what to make of Makoto's statement. Hiroshi has not know ever of any instances where Makoto's hearing ability has ever failed to detect anything, even over large distances. Hearing him speak now somehow seemed to cast doubt on his ability to listen to things.

" What do you think?" Hibiki asked.

" I....don't know..." Makoto replied. " This might sound a bit arrogant, but my hearing abilities are top notch. I doubt that I cannot pick up movement from 1 kilometer away, but somehow, even if my ears are not registering any movement...I have the odd feeling we are being followed..."

Hiroshi looked at Suzumi, who looked at him worriedly.

" So, I am somehow under the impression that they are bypassing my abilities, somehow..." Makoto replied.

" Not exactly..." a voice suddenly spoke to them all of a sudden.

All of them came to an abrupt halt. Hiroshi had his hands going down to pull out his weapon scrolls, ready to be drawn at any instance. The voice sent a chill down Hiroshi's spine. The enemy had caught up to them, and not only that, Makoto had failed to realise this.

" Well, ain't that a familiar voice...not that I liked to have to hear it again," Makoto replied.

They looked at where Makoto was directing his words towards. A lone girl stood in front of one of the branches in front of them, her arms crossed and looking fairly smug. Her long purple hair fluttered with the wind, and she was obviously dressed in the standard Sand shinobi apparel. She was apparently alone, or as far as Hiroshi can see.

" Tch, you..." Hibiki replied.

" Yes, me...how have you been, Suzumi? I haven't seen you in a while..." the girl replied. " I guess the jig is up. Why don't you guys come out now, and show our former comrades the trap they have so nicely fallen into, eh?"

More figures leaped out from behind them, all landing on the branch the girl was standing on. From the looks, Hiroshi could see that there were 6 of them, four from the Sand, and two Leaf-nins, or former-nins. Two of them did look vaguely familiar to him, somewhat.

" What a reunion. Too bad about the circumstances, huh?" the girl replied. " However, I must admit, it is strange to see you mixing with these Leaf brats. What's in it for you, eh, Makoto?" the girl replied.

" Nothing much, just doing my duty, Yui, not that a traitor like you would really know..." Makoto replied, although he did look a bit uncomfortable. " Sorry, Ryouta, it seems that they have somehow managed to slip under my radar."

" Forget it, you can explain later," Ryouta replied, bracing himself into a fight, his hands already ready to form his seals. " We don't have much of a choice right now. Sora, Hibiki, break left, now!"

Sora and Hibiki reacted instantly. Both of them leaped off the branches and jumped on the ground, with Sora carrying Lady Kaguya. She winced slightly as Sora hit the solid floor, but Sora was skilled enough not to shake her too much. Maya and the rest of them tried to react, but Ryouta was already done with his seals and he breathed out a massive jet of fire, which shot forward at an insane speed. Their opponents spread apart instantly as they were pressed hard by Ryouta's flame.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw to figures break away from their formation, and head towards them. One of them, a teenage boy, skidded right in front of Sora.

" Sup?" he replied, grinning at her.

" Geez, you never did change, did you, Ishikawa," Sora muttered.

" Neither did you," the girl who followed her replied. " Then again, he never does, no?"

" Shut up, Yuki, who the hell asked for your opinion?!" Ishikawa snapped back.

He drew several shurikens from his weapon pouch, and flung them at Sora. Hibiki intercepted them, jumping right in front of them and knocking them aside with his spear, before leaping forward. Yuki stepped in-between him and Ishikawa, drawing out a short blade from her back. Hibiki skidded to a halt just as the blade almost cut his head, taking a couple of steps back.

" Perfect..." Yuki replied. " Ishikawa, now!"

" Earth Release: Prison Encampment Technique!"

Sora and Hibiki gave a short yell as the ground below them suddenly gave way, breaking open into a fairly large cavern. They fell several feet, with rocks falling upon their heads. However, it was far from over. Ishikawa slammed his hands on the ground, and all of a sudden, the ground walls around them buried them alive.

" Lady Kaguya!" Tayu exclaimed, horrified that her master was now crushed under a slab of earth. She seemed paused in shock, staring at the spot where Sora and Hibiki once stood.

" Sora! Hibiki!" Suzumi yelled loudly, on the verge of tears.

" Quiet! They're fine!" Ryouta exclaimed.

All of them turned around to see Ryouta. He had both hands down on the ground, pressed down hard. It then hit him that Ryouta had just countered Ishikawa's technique with some earth technique just in the nick of time. Ishikawa looked a little displeased, but he didn't release his hands from the ground. Hiroshi knew that if either one of them broke their own jutsu, it would mean a win or a loss for their side.

" You can't be serious, did he just counter Ishikawa's jutsu?" one of the female Sand-nin replied. " I thought he knew fire jutsus only."

" I guess that's Ryouta for you, then. He knows too much elemental jutsus for his own good," Yuki replied.

" Ryouta, are they really alright?" Tayu asked.

" They are fine. Right now, I'm keeping Ishikawa's jutsu from activating completely, neutralising it, but you should know that if either of us breaks the jutsu on our side, then it will be over for either one of us. Sora, Hibiki and Lady Tayu are trapped in a small space of earth with barely any space to move, but they are alive, I can assure you as much," Ryouta replied. " However, I cannot fight in this skirmish, least Ishikawa manages to kill them."

" Don't worry, leave this to us!" Makoto replied. " First things first! We need to take out Ishikawa to break the jutsu, then we can free Hibiki and Sora to beat them back using numbers!"

The rest of their opponents skidded between them and Ishikawa, who was still kneeling on the ground. " Keep your hands on the ground. We'll deal with that annoying brat of a Leaf-nin and you will crush those trapped underneath in a instant," Maya replied.

Kira and Tayu leaped in front, their weapons drawn. Kira flicked out both his daggers, and they glinted menacingly in the setting sun, while Tayu held multiple needles in her hands, both of them looking desperate to get Lady Kaguya back. Hiroshi felt very tense. The situation was changing rapidly.

" Looks like our numbers are even," one of the Sand-nins, who had a pair of glasses over his eyes replied.

" Not for long," Yui replied, breaking into a grin, before she seemingly disappeared all of a sudden.

Makoto realised a little too late what she was up to, and he blamed himself for not realising this earlier. " Hiroshi, get away now!" Makoto yelled.

Hiroshi could only gasp in surprise. He spun around, only to see Maya standing right behind him, raising her palm in front of his face. Something exploded and knocked him backwards. Hiroshi gave a cry of surprise when the blast threw him back, and he lost sense of direction as he was flung backwards all of a sudden.


	10. Chapter 9: Missing nins

**Chapter 9: Missing-nins**

Hiroshi was a little dazed from the hit. As his eyes brought him back to focus, he found out that he was lying on the ground, but yet seemingly unhurt. However, it all came back to him in a rush, and he realised that he was still under attack.

He jumped to his feet and looked around. Nobody seemed to be within the vicinity, although he did noticed a blast mark right in front of him, which he figured was probably the work of Yui. It looked like he had been separated from the group somehow. Hiroshi wondered why. If that jutsu was supposed to kill him, it was a very ineffective jutsu, because he was still perfectly fine.

" You know the best way to take down a team?" a familiar voice asked, sending a chill down his spine. " It is by isolating the weakest member, eliminating them by using a much more powerful and skilled opponent, and then repeat the steps as follows."

He looked up, only to see Yui squatting on one of the tree branches, looking down at him gleefully. She had a couple of knives in her hands, and she was playfully twirling them around with her fingers.

" Sorry, Hiroshi, but you will be the first to die. Once I'm done with you, I'll join my group and deal with your friends," Yui replied.

Hiroshi frowned. It was apparent that she picked him since he was the weakest, and thus, would mean that she will have an easier time eliminating him. However, instead of panicking, Hiroshi broke into a grin all of a sudden, which surprised Yui.

" Well, I guess you are right, with me being the weakest," Hiroshi replied. " But unfortunately for you, this is working to our advantage..."

As soon as the dust settled down, Hiroshi was nowhere to be seen. Makoto should have realised sooner about Yui's favourite technique of isolating singular opponents and taking them down one by one. The ground where Hiroshi stood seconds ago was now victim to a powerful wind blast, which blew up earth and dirt all over the place. Makoto figured Hiroshi wouldn't sand a chance against Maya alone, and was about to leave to help him out, when Ryouta stopped him.

" Don't...our priority is this fight here. Going off to help Hiroshi is exactly what they are hoping you'd do," Ryouta replied, his hands still fixed on the ground. " It's obvious what we need to do here: finish these guys quickly, and be done with it."

" Oh, you think you guys are up to the task?" one of the Sand girls replied haughtily.

" Let's just not aggravate them more than necessary, thank you very much," the other male companion replied. " But you know, I'm kinda surprised to see you here. What's the Sand doing in a Leaf affair anyway?"

" What's a bunch of traitors doing in this anyway?" Makoto asked.

" Well, you know, getting by..." the female replied.

" ...Ugh, I hate fighting against someone I know personally, especially you, Yoko..." Suzumi replied.

Yoko merely broke into a broad grin. " Don't worry, Suzumi, since I know you so well, I'll try my best not to scratch you up too much," Yoko replied.

" Are you the ones who dispatched Negi and Maki?" the one with the glasses asked.

" Unfortunately, Shin, that was Hibiki's doing really," Makoto answered.

" Who's this Hibiki?" Yuki asked, before adding. " Wait, was he the extra guy we trapped under the earth as well?"

" Screw this! I'm getting Lady Kaguya back now!" Tayu exclaimed.

" Hey!"

With a sudden burst of speed, Tayu suddenly moved from where she was standing. Shin seemed to fade out of existence, before appearing right in front of Tayu just as she was about to throw a punch at Yoko, catching both her arms and stopping her movement instantly. Yuki and the other male Sand nin moved towards her side, flicking out kunais from their weapon pouches, heading towards Tayu.

There was a sudden clash of metal against metal, and two kunais dropped to the ground. Kira somehow managed to move at breakneck speed, whipping his opponents kunais out of their hands in an instant. Nobody even managed to see his hands move at all. Tayu grinned as she took a calculated step back and slapped her hands together as she flung her needles in circular spins around herself.

Her needles suddenly stopped spinning in mid-air, before suddenly directing themselves forward, mainly towards Ishikawa. The unnamed Sand-nin stepped in-between the attack, clapping his hands together once. A shockwave was emitted from his body, knocking all the needles aside.

" Step aside!" Makoto shouted. Tayu and Kira obliged at once, leaped aside as Makoto took a deep breath.

" Wind Release: Violent Cyclone Blast!"

A massive wind-based shockwave was emitted as Makoto breathed out hard. His breath filled with collective chakra burst out in the form of wind energy, and from it's starting point, shot forward like a missile towards its intended target, uprooting tree roots and soil as it shot forward.

" Wind Release: Wind Neutralise!"

The Sand-nin that blocked Tayu's needles now merely stood in front of Makoto's wind attack. The blast hit him, but he was strangely unharmed. Instead, Makoto's wind jutsu seemed to dissipate upon making contact with him, leaving him untouched.

" …No way…Ryoku, you can't have possibly mastered Hachi's techniques…" Makoto gasped, totally taken aback by this sudden change of events. Clearly, despite his normal calm and cool attitude, this was something that was beyond his imagination.

" Yet, Makoto-senpai, the reason I still stand here, is because I did," Ryoku replied, looking up at Makoto, grinning mischievously as he did.

Ryouta wasn't sure whether to expect this to happen or not. Clearly, Ryoku merely dispelled Makoto's wind jutsu with relative ease. However, he did have to admire the level of skill involved. It is technically possible to neutralize all types of genjutsu and ninjutsu with the proper chakra control, and specific jutsu used. Coming from the wind country where a large number of their shinobis utilize wind jutsus, it should come to no surprise that Sand shinobis are most adapt at neutralizing their own ninjutsus themselves.

However, Ryoku was a little different. Ryouta didn't catch him perform any seals at all, and the blast merely dissipate upon touching him. It was either the neutralizing jutsu was already in effect even before he started to right, or there was some other trick to it. Perhaps he was creating some sort of counter-measure air pressure of sorts. If he was, Ryouta was at a loss at how quick and easy he was controlling it.

He suddenly noticed one of them was missing from his view, the one named Shin. He did a quick glance to the side, only to see him by his side. Shin aimed a kick towards Ryouta's gut as he was kneeling down on the floor. Ryouta raised one of his legs to counter the attack, the strike hitting his feet hard, but Shin merely knocked his feet aside, before going for another shot.

Suzumi managed to butt in just in the nick of time, reaching out to grab hold of Shin's leg to make him avoid. His hand whipped forward to knock her away, but she managed to block the attack with her free hand. However, Shin was apparently more adept at using taijutsu, and flicked his hand free, and it made contact with her face, knocking her back.

Before Shin could make another move, something caught his attention and he spun around. Tayu managed to set several needles fling in his direction. It diverted him long enough for Suzumi to recover and fling several more at him, and since he was preoccupied with avoiding Tayu's attacks, three of her senbons hit him squarely in his chest. He grunted slightly, and although he wasn't seriously injured, he backed off.

" Let's finish this before Maya gets back, alright?" Ryoku replied. Both his palms shot forward, as if he was pushing against an invisible object. There was a sudden rush of wind that knocked all of them silly. Makoto tried to get his footing correctly, only to then realize that Ryoku had managed to knock all of his comrades aside, leaving Ryouta vulnerable.

" Shit!" he muttered.

Aimed at Ryouta, Ryoku fired a powerful blast of wind towards his direction. Ryouta had no possible way to avoid the blast without moving. He still needed to keep his hands in direct contact to the ground least Ishikawa completes his earth jutsu, dealing with Sora, Hibiki and Lady Kaguya permanently.

Just as the wind blast almost hit, Ryouta was suddenly engulfed in a large wall of fire that appeared right in front of him. The massive wall of flame burst out in a massive ball of heat, swallowing whatever wind energy that came its way. As the flame died, they could see Ryouta standing up, one of his hands near his mouth, small flames trailing out of his mouth as he breathed softly.

" Ryouta…you…" Makoto gasped.

" This guy is unbelievable! Are you telling me he's channeling an earth based ninjutsu to counter mine by just using his feet touching the ground, while he shot a fireball!?" Ishikawa yelled loudly in disbelief. " This guy's elemental manipulation is off the charts, man!"

Sora tried to look around, but all that surrounded her was darkness. She remembered falling down into the ground somehow, and seeing how she was enveloped in darkness, she figured she still had to be underground. She tried to move her hand, but there seemed to be this rock-like surface right above her. There was barely enough space for her to move her hands, or her body about. However, something did strike her as odd. She seemed to be somehow lying on some surface that was not exactly earth-like in anyway. It then later occurred to her that she was carrying something on her back before she fell.

" Don't worry…you aren't really heavy at all…" Lady Kaguya replied.

" Uh…sorry about this…" Sora replied apologetically, trying to move aside. " I think I should move away…"

There was a sudden shrill, annoyed yell when Sora tried to move. " Hey, you jerk, where the hell do you think you are grabbing at?" Hibiki yelled from somewhere on Sora's right. " Ow! Hell, do you seriously know what you are grabbing!?"

" Shup up, there is no space in here!" Sora shot back.

" Quiet down, mad woman. Considering this is a fairly sealed up space, there shouldn't be too much of an oxygen supply down here," Hibiki warned.

" Hey, you started shouting first!" Sora shot back.

" Hey, I only shouted cos you grabbed my b…"

" Where exactly are we?" Lady Kaguya asked.

" Somewhere underneath the surface of the earth. Must be one of their earth jutsus. I guess we have been captured, or trapped…" Hibiki replied, although both of them noticed he stalled in his sentence. "…Or maybe, yeah…looks like he failed to kill us."

" Excuse me?" Sora asked.

" Assuming they are out for Lady Kaguya's head, I see no reason why they have to capture us now. If whoever who did this jutsu to trap us under the earth is capable of doing a jutsu of this degree, I can see no reason as to why he would stop here. After all, he could juts as easily dropped the level of these rocks a few feet lower," Hibiki replied. " I guess Ryouta must have stopped him."

He couldn't really see it, but he could imagine Sora frowning at the comment, which was precisely what she was doing at the moment. " Yeah, whatever…anyway, we need to get the heck out of here," she replied.

" How?" Hibiki asked.

" What? You know your wind manipulation, right? Cut us out of here…" Sora replied.

" The only object I can manipulate wind with is my spear, and I don't seem to know where it is currently, and even if I did, there isn't much space around here to maneuver it around. Besides, what am I supposed to do, dig us out?" Hibiki replied.

" Alright then, since you are hopeless, I'll just have to blast our way out with my Sound techniques," Sora replied.

" Not a very good idea. Breaking a crack on a slab like this above us might just bring it all down at once. Assuming you get to blast it correctly somehow, do know you are in an enclosed space, and the Sound blast is also very likely to hit us as well. Although I'm not particularly worried about you are me, we have Lady Kaguya to consider here. Also, considering that your techniques need some space to utilize, this isn't the best place to blast yourself out from," Hibiki replied.

There was a sudden silence for a while as Sora pondered upon his words. No sound escaped from either one of them for a short period of time.

" Yeow!" Hibiki screamed.

" What is it, Hibiki?!" Ladu Kaguya asked, alarmed at the sudden outburst.

" Sora, you prick!" he suddenly exclaimed. " You pinched me!"

" …I'm bored…now what?" Sora asked in a bored manner.

" Your advantage? How so, arrogant one?" Yui asked.

" Two things, actually. Considering the fact that you consider yourself highly skilled, you have just reduced your teams potential fighting capabilities by coming here alone. I'd say you underestimated my teammates. You might think Makoto is the only competent one there, but Ryouta will have your teammates flattened out in no time," Hiroshi replied calmly.

" Bah, I've heard rumours that he's good, but they are just rumours. I doubt he's hardly the cause for concern," Yui replied. " What's the other advantage then?"

" Assuming you claim that you are one of the best in your group, and me, being one of the worst, puts your team in a favourable situation," Hiroshi replied. " Is that right?"

" It should be, unless you are somehow refuting my claim that I'm not better than I claim I am, or that you aren't as bad as I think you are," Yui replied.

" Nope, you are right. You look like an ace to me, and frankly speaking, I think I'm the weakest person in my group," Hiroshi replied.

Yui frowned at his statement. " What…are you suggesting?" she asked.

Hiroshi flicked out two weapon scrolls and caught them deftly with his hands. " Nothing much, except for the fact that I'm an expert in delaying tactics," Hiroshi replied, grinning. " The fact that I can delay you here is good enough for me. As for how long I can delay you, well, I'd say long enough."

Yui had enough of Hiroshi's tirade, and suddenly did a body flicker technique. Hiroshi managed to duck just in the nick of time just as something swiped past his head. Crouched low, he leaped backwards, not before flicking a smoke grenade. A large cloud of smoke puffed up from the ground where the smoke grenade hit, setting up a cloud impenetrable to the normal eye. Hiroshi quickly concealed himself within the smoke, hiding himself from view.

" Bah, you think you can hide in that?!" Yui exclaimed. In an instant, she flung her hand outwards, throwing a kunai tagged with an explosive note towards the cloud of smoke. The white cloud engulfed the tag, but however, no explosion occurred. " …What…?"

" Sorry, defusing explosive tags are one of my specialties," Hiroshi replied from within the smoke.

The smoke died after a while, and Hiroshi came into sight. He apparently wasn't alone, as there was this large puppet snake next to him, coiled up neatly to his right, chakra strings extending towards the puppet from the tips of his fingers. In his left hand he held a kunai tagged with an explosive note, presumably the one that had been thrown by Yui.

" Defuse?" Yui mused, making a face, eying his puppet as well. " And that puppet…?"

" Yes, strange to see a Leaf puppeteer, but here I am. As a puppeteer, you can imagine that I am a weapon specialist. After all, a puppet is merely a mass collection of weapons put in a nicely shaped box. You look perplexed. Perhaps you are wondering why I managed to stop an exploding tag from…exploding?" Hiroshi asked.

Yui seemed to take pause. This was all going along with Hiroshi's plan. He was, after all, adept at delaying the enemy. The fact that he uses puppets was good enough reason to give any of his enemies pause. Hiroshi knew he could not beat Yui in an outright fight, showing her fighting capabilities and speed that could rival either Sora or Hibiki. If he could buy enough time, perhaps his friends would come to help, eventually. He had enough faith that they would pull through somehow. Right now, he was doing his best to buy some time, and he was trying to act cocky to play the role.

" Do you know how an explosive tag works? Simple, really. Using chakra, one compresses oxygen, or any combustible gas, but oxygen comes easily so we generally use that, and a spark, usually in the form of a flame, and seal it in an explosive tag. Thus, an explosive tag actually comprises of two parts: a seal for an amount of oxygen, and another seal for a flame. The seal is rigged to set off after we insert chakra into the tag, where it will explode when the oxygen and flame is released simultaneously. It's kinda funny how not many shinobis know how a shinobi weapon actually works, especially this explosive tag," Hiroshi explained.

Yui didn't move at all, but merely listened carefully.

" Simplest way to defuse a tag would be to destroy it. See, the tag will explode by releasing its contents after a set amount of time. If you destroy the tag, let's say by cutting it, you destroy the seal on the tag, thus, obviously, it is unable to explode," Hiroshi replied.

" But, you didn't cut the tag!" Maya exclaimed.

" I said the simplest, not the only method, Yui," Hiroshi replied. " See, when you set of an explosive tag, the seal on the tag will corrode and eventually break, leading to an explosion. Thus, simply said, if you can somehow stop the seal, you can stop the explosion."

" You have to be nuts! You'd need precise chakra control and guts to be able to stop something that can kill you in such a fashion!" Maya exclaimed.

" Precisely, that's why I do it. I've got enough balls to do it, and my chakra control is fairly good, to be frank, with puppet control. Besides the fact that all explosive tags are sealed the same way, the seal needed to seal it back again is simple, and works for all tags…" Hiroshi replied. " Not to mention, I deprive my enemy of a valuable weapon, and I obtain one of my own. What do you say to that?"

Hiroshi flung the kunai at Yui, which blew up the spot she was standing on. Predictably, she moved away, and the blast did little but to heat her skin. Hiroshi cracked his fingers as he prepared himself. He played his hand in tricking Yui that he was a difficult enemy to beat. In truth, he was just very knowledgeable with explosive tags. The main problem now was to hold her back.

_Just hold out, Hiroshi…Ryouta and the rest of them will come to help out eventually…_Hiroshi thought to himself.

Yui leaped up on one of the tree branches, before moving to the next. Hiroshi's eyes barely had the time to keep up with her movement, and even if he did, all he could barely make out of her was a blur of movement essentially. However, Hiroshi was still sharp enough to notice changes in her movement, and he detected something odd in her movements. In that short span of time, he reacted defensively, twitching his hands to move his snake. His puppet suddenly darted to his right, forming a shield in front of him.

There was a sharp snap, and a lone kunai broke through his snake, almost striking him in the head. His eyes widened in shock as he saw the weapon, looking at his snake to see where it had penetrated. Yui somehow managed to penetrate his snake, the kunai breaking through one of it's segments.

" Wind manipulation?!" Hiroshi exclaimed.

" Most certainly..." Yui replied, her voice coming from behind him.

All of a sudden, Hiroshi made his Hebi break into multiple pieces. This surprised Yui a little, seeing the segments break up. He made some of the compartments of his Hebi open up, firing several senbon pistons. Yui backed off as the needles showered all over her from all over the place.

" Tch, it's not like you can run forever..." Yui replied, flicking out two knives. Hiroshi saw the familiar coat of chakra surround the blades, knowing that they will be as sharp as they will ever be. Yui did a body flicker technique and disappeared from sight.

Hiroshi looked all around him. Yui had clearly hidden herself from plain sight. It was pointless in trying to fish her out by throwing weapons at her. Random carelessness would cost him, since he knew she was significantly much faster than he was at any rate. He tried to keep his eyes peeled on the surrounding area.

" You know one of the main flaws of being a puppeteer?" Yui's voice floated by. The echo came from all around him, hiding her position.

" Oh, amuse me..." Hiroshi replied, deciding to play her little game.

" Since puppeteers have to focus so much on their puppets, they are at a disadvantage defensively, since they have to focus so much on their puppets. To be frank, you positioned yourself badly. Not only are you out in the open, you don't seem too aware of your surroundings," Yui replied.

There was a slight rush behind him, and Hiroshi instinctively ducked. Something flew past his head, but narrowly missed him. Yui threw a wild strike at his forehead, but missed. However, it was on purpose. When Hiroshi ducked, she threw another swing with her free hand, the blade in her hand aimed at his gut.

It came to her utmost surprise when Hiroshi suddenly caught her arm, stopping the blow.

" What?!" Yui exclaimed.

" Oh, I have my little tricks in countering my defensive capabilities, taijutsu usually..." Hiroshi replied.

Yui tried to pull free, but found out that he not only had his hands firmly grasped on hers, but he managed to snag a several metal wires on her hand to keep it in place. Her eyes shot towards his free hand, and she noticed his fingers twitching.

Hiroshi's Hebi suddenly moved, darting towards her, it's mouth wide open. Yui caught sight of the puppet's metal fangs, just before it sank into her chest as the puppet clamped its jaws down upon him. She gargled slightly as the snake punched her lungs, sending blood out of her mouth. She tried to gasp for air, but the blood in her lungs made it hard for her to breath.

" Sorry, looks like I win this round..." Hiroshi replied.

All of a sudden, something wrapped around his neck, tight. Hiroshi gasped as he felt his windpipe get crushed against some oppressive force. As he struggled to free himself, a voice suddenly whispered in his ear.

" Nice, but if that's all you got, then you are just not good enough..." Yui's voice whispered.

Hiroshi tried to look around, only to see Yui right behind him, a cheeky smile on her face as she pressed hard against him, her arm wrapped tightly around his shoulders. Hiroshi looked in front of him, only to see the Yui in which he had killed with his puppet dissolve into a mass of mud.

_A clone?!_

She raised her free hand, in which held a blade, infused with the wind element. Hiroshi's eyes widened in shock and terror as the blade glinted against the remaining rays of the sun that was still visible from the horizon.

" Unfortunately for you, this is the end..." she replied, before sinking the blade deep into his neck.


	11. Chapter 10: Crash and Burn

**Chapter 10: Crash and Burn**

Yui suddenly skidded backwards all of a sudden, sporting a long gash across her chest. A serious wound had been struck with a blade, and her blood was now running down her attire. She grimaced in pain as blood poured out from the wound that had been inflicted. Slowly, she looked up towards Hiroshi.

" No...I stabbed you...this isn't possible..." Yui gasped slightly.

Hiroshi merely turned around to look at her casually. The spot where Yui had stabbed him was shown prominently. There was a stab wound on his neck, made by her blade, and blood seeped out of his wound, gushing like there was no tomorrow. Despite his severe injuries, he seemed non-chalant about it, turning his head slightly to look at her, smiling even. The fact that he was fatally wounded didn't seem to faze him at all.

" This...is impossible..." Yui gasped.

" Pity, I intended to rip your chest apart. Seems like my cut was a bit shallow," Hiroshi mused. " I must commend you. I had my hand concealed, yet you sensed something was amiss and jumped back towards safety. Looks like the Sand-nins survival instincts are no joke."

Yui's gazed turned towards his right hand, and her eyes widened up in surprise. His wrist was dislodged from his hand, and within the hollow cavity that was his arm protruded a two feet long blade, sharpened with the wind element.

" No way...a puppet?" Yui mused.

This was almost something new to her. She knew puppeteers sometimes disguise their puppets as humans, either by layering them in a layer of sand to mask their features, or by making an artificial mask for their puppets, but this was something completely new. Hiroshi actually made a puppet to mimic himself. The puppet represented him in every exact manner.

Yui had to admit, and admire, Hiroshi's skill and craftiness. Not only did he trick her with a puppet of his own likeness, he even had the brains to add fake blood on his puppet to add to the surrealism of the puppet. If the puppet didn't bleed, Yui would realise in an instant it was a fake, and fall back. Adding the blood only made Yui lower her guard by tricking her to thinking she had already hit her mark, even if it was a fraction of a second.

" Tch, damn it!" Yui spat, flinging another explosive note towards a spot towards the right, just at the point where Hiroshi had used a smoke grenade on earlier.

The ground shifted slightly, and a figure of Hiroshi suddenly burst from the ground, the soil and dirt falling off his attire, just as the explosive note was about to hit. He flung a set of puppet strings towards Yui's on-coming explosive note, halting it in its tracks. Pinching the note and sending his chakra into the explosive, he resealed the note, and it merely sizzled slightly before falling silent.

" Damn, looks like the jig is up," Hiroshi mused.

Makoto flung his arm right at Ryoku, his wind blade primed and ready. Ryoku merely ducked slightly, the almost invisible blade missing his head by a fraction, before his hand shot upwards to catch Makoto's wrist. All of a sudden, the wind blade dissipated from Makoto's fingers, leaving him with nothing on his hands.

" Tch!" Makoto spat, as he pulled his hand free as he saw Ryoku prepare his own wind blade. Makoto skipped backwards, Ryoku's strike missing him as well as he avoided it in time. Shin tried to intercept Makoto, but Kira managed to move in-between him to block his on-coming attack.

With Ryoku's presence, he had managed to void all of Makoto's attacks, which were wind based, effectively rendering him useless in the fight. This fight was becoming much more difficult now, especially since Makoto was a wind ninjutsu user.

All of a sudden, his ears started to ring noisily. He tried to cup his ears, but the ringing would not stop, and it started to beat in his head excessively. Kira seemed to be caught up in it as well, as he was holding his head in slightly agony.

" Kai!" Suzumi exclaimed, moving up to the front, tapping both of them on the shoulders. The instant she poured her chakra into them, the irritating ringing noise stopped. Stepping in front of them, she spewed poison gas from her mouth, thick purple smoke started to flew out from her mouth. Their opponents leaped back slightly, avoiding the poison gas.

" Damn, Suzumi is countering all my genjutsu well," Yoko replied.

" Don't worry, we hold the advantage here," Ryoku replied. " With me here, Makoto is practically useless. This is a 4 on 3 match. Clearly, we hold the upper hand. Now, we just need to press them a bit more."

Ryouta gritted his teeth. Ryoku was right, they are at a disadvantage here. Ryouta was preoccupied with trying to counter Ishikawa's jutsu, and despite being able to counter the jutsu shot by Ryoku earlier, he could only fight defensively. Shin was apparently and adept taijutsu fighter, and he kept up with Kira's speed well, and Yoko and Yuki were keeping Suzumi and Tayu at bay. If Makoto could not hold Ryoku back, they were done for.

All of them skidded backwards, forming a small wall in front of Ryouta as they braced themselves. Their opponents seem to pause for a while, as if contemplating on how to deal a decisive blow to their opponents. They now had to come up with a plan, and fast.

" Sorry, I didn't expect to face someone with the abilities like Ryoku. Looks like I am putting you all at a disadvantage," Makoto apologised.

" Don't apologise, rather, think of something to counter it, quick..." Ryouta replied. " We need to hurry, or else we might be able to keep Lady Kaguya, or our friends, alive for much longer."

" Hey, Ryouta, do you have a plan?" Tayu asked, looking worried.

Ryouta merely frowned. " No...if we can deal with Ryoku's wind nulling abilities, we will be fine, but I can't think of anything now to deal with it..."

Tayu merely sighed, before looking at Kira. He merely glanced at her, not replying, just keeping silent as he watched the proceedings. " Hey, it's not much, but I might have a solution..." Tayu whispered.

" Out with it..." Ryouta replied.

" I'm not sure whether it will be effective or not, but I think it's worth a shot," Tayu replied. " It's a bit of a risk, but Kira and I will deal an opening blow to their ranks. Once that is done, we'll leave it up to you to take up the slack on our side when we are done."

" I don't like the sound of this...it's too vague, and risky..." Suzumi replied.

" We are Lady Kaguya's personal bodyguards. If I can't do something simple as protect her, I'd rather die," Tayu replied. " So please, tell me you can take up the slack. I don't need to hear anything more than that."

" ...We don't have much of a choice in the matter," Ryouta replied. " Makoto, Suzumi, take advantage of the situation Tayu and Kira deals. You got one shot..."

" One shot, eh? I wonder what hand shall we play then..." Makoto mused.

" Let's go, Kira!" Tayu exclaimed. Both of them shot forward towards the enemy. Shin and Yuki retaliated by moving forward, but to Ryouta's utter surprise, instead of Kira supposedly taking the lead, Tayu lead the strike instead.

_What is she thinking?_ Ryouta thought to himself.

Tayu pulled out a green scroll and tossed it in the air. Forming a few hand seals, she then caught the scroll in mid-air, pulled it open, then threw it high up in the air above her. Shin and Yuki were unsure of what she was planning, but decided to move in to interrupt her. However, with a sudden burst of speed, Tayu flung herself at both of them, taking them by surprise as she caught the lapels of their shirts.

" Sorry, bitches, you two are going down with me!" Tayu snarled menacingly.

Both Yuki and Shin looked up, only to see the green scroll unseal itself, revealing over a hundred needles hanging in mid-air. Both of them gasped in surprise, suddenly realising what Tayu was up to. Even Ryouta was taken aback at the sheer audacity of her attack.

" Grass Secret Technique: Needle Rain!"

All the needles suddenly shot down towards them at breakneck speed. Tayu grasped onto them firmly. Knowing it was futile, Shin suddenly grabbed Yuki and roughing shoved her aside, knocking her down. As she crashed on the ground, the rest of the needles started to pour on Tayu and Shin, piercing them all over. Yuki watched in shock as both of them were drenched in their own blood after the attack, needles stuck all over their body.

" Are you...suicidal?" Shin gasped.

" Heh, anything for Lady Kaguya..." Tayu gasped, feeling the needle's sting her body. " Your pretty good yourself, being able to stand after my attack." Tayu lost her strength from her injuries, and released her grip on Shin as she collapsed on the ground. Shin followed soon after.

" No, Shin!" Yuki cried in alarm, getting up, before trying to head towards the fallen Shin. " Shin, talk to me, are you okay?!"

" No, Yuki, fall back!"

It was too late. Less than a second later, something ripped through her chest, leaving a large gash on her chest. Yuki tried to avoid it, but she was still struck nevertheless. She didn't even manage to see the attack come, as if some invisible force hit her.

" That other flunky!" Yoko snarled.

All of a sudden, Kira appeared out of nowhere right in front of Ryoku, taking him by surprise slightly. The speed in which he moved as almost as if he teleported himself to the spot. He had both his daggers firmly gripped in his hand, one of them with blood dripping from it. It didn't take too much to guess that it was Kira who struck Yuki moments ago.

There was a sudden blur of movement, before some thing warm and sticky splattered over Ryoku's face. Yoko managed to step in-between him and Ryoku, using her arm as a shield. Kira's dagger slammed right through her arm, piercing muscle and bone. Yoko winced slightly at the pain as Kira ran his dagger through her arm.

" Yoko!" Ryoku exclaimed.

" Don't worry about me, they were aiming for you!" Yoko exclaimed.

Kira pulled out the dagger, and went for Ryoku, but Ryoku somehow managed to catch his arm just as he was about to pull a swing at his face. Ryoku figured that Kira probably used the 1st Gate in his attack, as he was now slowing down considerably. Ryoku slammed his hand on Kira's chest, armed with a wind blade. Kira leaped back at once, not before Ryoku struck him, partially. Blood poured out of his chest as he skipped back, looking fatigued all of a sudden.

" Go!" Tayu cried loudly.

Makoto suddenly barged through them, pushing Yoko aside, who was holding her arm in pain. Makoto formed his hand seals, before slamming the palm of his hands on Ryoku. Nothing, happened, predictably.

" Makoto, how shallow, to think you'd repeat the same mistake over and over again," Ryoku replied, before preparing his Wind Blade once more, slamming it into Makoto's chest for the kill. Makoto winced at the attack made contact, and blood splattered all over the place. " ...What?"

The strike was abnormally shallow. Upon closer inspection, there was a layer of sand covering Makoto. His armour of sand prevented him from taking too much damage from the strike. Ryoku had managed to crack the armour slightly and scratched his chest at most.

" Ryoku, how shallow, to think that I'd be making a mistake," Makoto replied. His arm shot out towards him, grabbing him by his neck and other arm. All of a sudden, the sand on Makoto started to move on Ryoku's body, fusing them together. Ryoku found himself stuck to Makoto.

Yoko recovered herself, and flicked out her senbon needles, ready to strike at Makoto, only to scream in pain as Suzumi came up behind her, striking her shoulder hard with a senbon needle of hers. Yoko fell back on the ground, and Suzumi headed up to help Makoto.

" Forget me, Ishikawa's open. Get him!" Makoto exclaimed, as he struggled to hold onto Ryoku, who was doing his best to break free, but to no avail.

Suzumi spun around, and ran towards Ishikawa, who had a look of shock on his face now that they had somehow gained the upper hand. Suzumi drew her hand back, about to fling a set of senbons at Ishikawa when she suddenly cried in pain and fell to the ground.

" What?!" Makoto exclaimed.

Yoko was on the ground, her hand outstretched, as Suzumi was wincing on the ground, senbons stuck to her thighs. " You didn't finish me off properly, but strange, I never thought you had so much strength before. Guess you did change a bit, huh?" Yoko mused. Very slowly, she stood up as Suzumi lay groaning in pain on the floor, flicking out a few senbon needles of her own, trying to ignore the stinging sensation in her arm and her shoulder where she was hit. " Now, where were we?"

Makoto tried to break off, but suddenly found that Ryoku was now instead holding him tight, not allowing him to leave. " Guess you guys were desperate, but looks like we still have the upper hand her," he replied. " Yoko, incapacitate the rest of them quickly and deal with Ryouta to finish this!"

" You got it," she replied, heading towards Suzumi, who was still lying on the ground in pain, her thighs bleeding profoundly.

" No, Suzumi!" Ryouta exclaimed as Yoko dashed toward her.

All of a sudden, there was a tremendous explosion. Bits of rock and dirt rained down upon them as the blast occurred. Ryouta winced as a rush of dust and wind blew against his face, blinding him slightly. As the dust settled, he suddenly got a clear picture of what had happened. The ground where Lady Kaguya, Hibiki and Sora had been trapped was blast open, and all was left was a smoking open crater. A figure stepped out of it, and from the looks, it could only be Sora.

" Alright, we are free. Now that I'm utterly pissed, I guess I'm just going to have to kill the idiot who trapped us inside here. Now, where is this person? Was it you?!" Sora exclaimed, pointing towards the first person she saw, which was Yoko.

" Hey, why don't you help me get Lady Kaguya out of this mess while you are at it?" Hibiki replied, helping Lady Kaguya out from the crater, who looked around worriedly at the mess.

" ...How...how..." Ishikawa gasped. " How did they break free?"

" Obvious, look at her hands..." Yoko replied.

Ryouta caught sight of Sora's hands. Both of them were bleeding quite badly. Whatever she used to break them free severely damaged her hands as well. Yoko merely smiled at her, while raising her senbon needles. " Bah, we don't need to worry too much about this chick. After all, if a taijutsu user injures her hand severely, how well can she fight anyway?" Yoko laughed.

Sora surprised everyone by taking a few steps next to a tree and slamming her fists on the truck. The trunk of the tree suddenly shattered, the trunk breaking into splinters, the tree falling off and crashing into the ground, making everyone stare at her in shock and surprise. Sora merely gave them all a mischievous grin at the looks of surprise that was plastered on their faces.

" Sorry, I didn't hear you properly..." Sora replied cockily. " What did you just say?"

Ryoku immediately snapped his fingers twice. Before Makoto could react, he knocked him back and sprang off. Sora and Hibiki braced themselves, thinking he was about to strike, but he merely rushed up to Shin and picked him up, while Ishikawa did the same to Yuki.

" Looks like we might have underestimated them a little too much. We'll be withdrawing now," Ryoku replied. He flicked out something circular from his pocket and flung it in the air. It shot upwards, before exploding loudly, sending sparks all over the place. Ryouta was pretty sure that was to tell Maya that it was time to retreat. " Let's go!" he exclaimed, leaping away.

" You aren't getting away so easily!" Sora exclaimed.

" Halt!"

Sora paused when she heard Ryouta shout. He had his hand out, as if trying to stop her from afar. Makoto got up, slightly shaken from the fall.

" Don't pursue them. We aren't in any shape to do that. Kira and Tayu have been hurt, and Hiroshi is still missing," Ryouta replied, immediately accessing the situation. He rushed up towards Suzumi, who was pulling out the senbon needle's stuck to her thighs and healing herself. " Suzumi, how are you?"

Suzumi look up at Ryouta, some tears in her eyes caused by the pain. " I think I'm fine..."

Ryouta turned to his left. " How's the two of them?" Ryouta asked, referring to Tayu and Kira.

" Seems like Tayu's unconscious, but she'll be fine. She managed to avoid getting hit with these senbon needles on any critical part of her body...wait, are these her needles?" Hibiki replied, going up to check on Tayu. Turning to look at Kira, he merely waved his hands at Ryouta, signifying that he was alright, and the wound on his chest was nothing to worry about.

" Okay, Suzumi, can you move?" Ryouta asked urgently.

Suzumi finished the healing procedure on her leg. Wincing slightly, she stood up. " I...I'm fine, Ryouta..."

" Alright, Sora, Hibiki, keep guard of the place. Makoto, you take charge for a while now. Suzumi, follow me, we need to find Hiroshi quickly," Ryouta exclaimed, rushing off. Suzumi shot Ryouta a worried look when he mentioned Hiroshi's name, but followed obediently nevertheless, while Makoto merely kept passive as they left towards Hiroshi's direction.

Hiroshi's Hebi suddenly sprung to life, leaping towards Yui, it's jaws wide open. Yui dodged to the right just as Hebi crashed right next to the spot where she stood, but puppet Hiroshi was already there, waiting to intercept her. The right arm joint had opened up, and it procured a large, silver looking scythe, the blade reaching a length of four feet, almost as long as Hiroshi was. Puppet Hiroshi slammed the scythe on the ground where Yui stood, missing her by a fraction of an inch. Pulling back sharply, the puppet swung the scythe violently at her face. Yui avoided it with a sudden burst of speed, shooting backwards, then up on one of the tree branches.

" Damn it, how can she still move so fast even with those injuries?" Hiroshi groaned. Yui was still proving difficult for him to handle, even if he did seriously wound her. Her speed was still fast enough to avoid his attacks.

Yui frowned as she observed Hiroshi for a while. The bleeding was making her a bit dizzy, but there was nothing to it. As far as she was concerned, she was still at an advantage here. As long as she could beat him in his puppet game, she would definitely win.

Yui jumped off the branch and flung two explosive notes at Hiroshi. Hiroshi freed one of his hands and flung his puppet strings to snag the explosive notes, slowing their movement before catching them and resealing them again. He then returned them to Yui, throwing both of them towards her direction. The ground where she stood blew up, but Hiroshi figured she was already gone from the spot.

However, all of a sudden, several shurikens flew towards him from the smoke. He recalled Hebi, and the snake appeared right in front of him, the shurikens bounching off its tough hide. However, something snapped from behind him, and he heard something fly in the air. He spun around, aimed his weapon launchers, and fired a multitude of shurikens at the spot where the noise came from. They struck the on-coming shurikens Yui managed to throw from behind him, and sent the rest flying towards empty air.

" What's she up to? Is she...testing me?" Hiroshi asked himself.

Yui noticed something peculiar about Hiroshi, and she wondered if she could use this to her advantage somehow. She noticed three things in her fight, so far. One, Hiroshi only caught the explosive notes using his chakra strings. While there was nothing really wrong with using chakra strings, he was a puppeteer. If he used chakra strings, it would mean using a free hand, which mean rendering one of his puppets, assuming he controlled each on with a hand each, temporarily immobile. This meant he was leaving himself a little open, even if it was just to catch an explosive note. A much safer way would be to catch it with his hands. Perhaps he couldn't, but it did intrigue her a little. After all, catching a weapon with one's bare hands was at least five times much easier than catching them with chakra strings.

She understood the basic premise for this. Catching a weapon thrown by an enemy shinobi is no simple feat. One needed absolute focus, precision, and a lot of guts. Since a lot of concentration and attention is given to the weapon, most shinobis either avoid them, or counter them with projectile weapons of their own. Besides, what was the point in stealing a bunch of shurikens from the enemy? It was not as if they were running out of shurikens to fight with. Catching weapons, or snagging them with chakra strings, especially when they were moving was no simple matter. In fact, not many puppeteers could do this feat.

However, there was a main difference in both methods. Catching a weapon with one's bare hands needed perfect accuracy. If the target missed, then they would only injure themselves. As for using the chakra string method, it would need less accuracy. Hiroshi could throw out a few strings in front of him. As long as the weapon snagged one of the lines, he could possibly stop it in its tracks. Perhaps this showed that Hiroshi lacked a certain amount of accuracy in his skills.

This would be further proved by the second point: projectile weapons. It appeared that Hiroshi wore some sort of oversized glove, in Yui's opinion or perception, which allowed him to fire out weapons of all sorts. Nothing strange, as puppet do this as well, but she wondered why he needed it. After all, if one took into account of precision, throwing a weapon was much more accurate than firing from a mechanism, where there was a margin of error. When Yui threw those shurikens from behind Hiroshi, he fired more than enough shurikens to counter it, which in Yui's opinion, was a waste of weapons. Why was there an excessive need for extra shurikens to be fired?

Yui figured that Hiroshi somehow lacked the aptitude to accurately aim at his targets. This would be proven by the third fact: throwing explosive notes. Explosive notes didn't need to be accurately thrown, since the explosion would encompass a large area anyway, but Yui noticed when Hiroshi threw the explosive notes back to her, they were off target by one to two feet. This gave her a slight margin of error to avoid it successfully when he threw it.

There was no doubt in her mind that Hiroshi didn't have a very good accuracy over certain distances. He made this up by using puppets to play defensively, and using excessive weapons to make up for his misses. Yui grinned slightly as she observed Hiroshi from where she was hiding, watching him keep an eye out for any movements. She could play this to her advantage somehow.

Yui sprang out from one of the tree branches, throwing a few shurikens at him. Hiroshi moved his Hebi into place once, more, blocking the attack as the shurikens bounced off the puppet harmlessly. Hebi sprang forward, it's jaw wide open, ready to slam its fangs into Yui. Yui twisted her body, avoiding the attack, before landing on the ground. Puppet Hiroshi came up, and slammed the scythe down right at her head. Yui merely flicked aside, before landing on the ground nearby. Hiroshi saw out of the corner of her eye that she flicked her kunai, and seemed to cut something invisible form behind her.

All of a sudden, two explosive notes shot towards him from his left and right. _Shit, she set up a trap..._Hiroshi thought. He flicked out his chakra strings without thinking, catching them in midair, before realising something wrong with them. " Shit!" he exclaimed.

It was a bit too late, and he felt something sink into his gut, painfully. Yui shot up towards him, sticking a knife into his gut. Warm blood started to pour out from his wound, and drip down his body. Hiroshi coughed out a little blood as blood entered his stomach.

" Damn it...these explosive notes are fakes..." Hiroshi gasped, coughing out more blood. " You set up these traps...huh?"

" Well, unfortunately, guess my trap setting was better than yours..." Yui replied. " However, your defeat came in the form of your accuracy, and speed."

" ...What?"

" I'm under the impression that you lack a certain finesse in accuracy. Your aim is always a little off somehow, although barely noticeable, I seem to still recognise it. This was why you always caught the explosive notes with your chakra strings, not with your hands, since that method needed less accuracy," Yui replied, grinding the blade in his gut. Hiroshi merely coughed out more blood.

" However, there was a fatal flaw in your skill. As impressive as it was, catching them using chakra strings, as a puppeteers, would render your puppet useless. Then comes the question, why catch it in the first place? If countering a projectile weapon would leave you unable to defend and attack with your puppet for a short period of time, why do it? I then came to the conclusion that you aren't quick enough, or at least quick enough to avoid my explosive notes. To counter that, you developed a skill to catch them instead, least you faced an enemy faster you what you can keep up with," Yui replied.

"...Damn, I can't believe I've been read so easily like that..." Hiroshi gasped.

" Guess this means you lose..." Yui replied, smiling at him.

" Wrong..." Hiroshi replied.

" Wrong, how so?" Maya asked.

Hiroshi suddenly gripped her hand that stuck the blade into his gut firmly, and her eyes widened in shock when she saw an explosive tag tied to his arm. " How are you supposed to win...if we both lose?" Hiroshi asked, grinning slightly.

" Shit!" Yui exclaimed. With all her might, she suddenly pulled hard. The blade came out of his gut, and surprisingly enough, Hiroshi didn't really have the strength left to hold her. Yui leaped backwards as Hiroshi fell to the ground, before she realised something strange. The explosive note tied to his hand was none other than the one he caught, which in fact was a fake.

_Wait, did he just do that to lure me...to this spot?_ Yui thought frantically. She leaped backwards even further, wary that Hiroshi had set something up on the spot she stood upon.

" You said your trap making skills were better than me..." Hiroshi replied, looking up at her as he lay on the ground, face-down, bleeding from his injury. " ...But I beg to differ, my traps, are always..."

Yui was suddenly engulfed in a huge explosion, one that occurred right beneath her. In less than a second, she was immolated in a huge blast. When the fire died down slightly, nothing was left of her on the spot she stood upon.

" ...Superior..." Hiroshi replied. " ...Don't hate me for this..."

With that Hiroshi lapsed into unconsciousness, the heat from the flames of the blast licking against his back.


	12. Chapter 11: Traitors of the Sand

**Chapter 11: Traitors of the Sand**

When Hiroshi regained consciousness, his vision was a complete blur. The first thing that hit him was pain, mainly coming from his the spot where his gut was located. This came to no surprise, since he remembered being stabbed in the gut by Yui. However, the second sensation was a bit strange. He felt that he was lying on something soft. If he was still on the forest floor, it shouldn't feel as soft as this, not to mention he was lying head-side up now. The third and final one was this weird sensation of something wet and cool being placed on his forehead.

" Ugh..." Hiroshi groaned as he suddenly got up. His head felt a little dizzy, making him wonder if it was due to the blood loss.

" Ah, you are awake now...thank goodness..." a familiar voice replied.

He turned to his left to see someone sitting next to him. He almost blurted out Suzumi's name until he realised the girl sitting next to him wasn't Suzumi. She looked marginally larger, and her clothes were different, plus her hair was tied in a different way, and much longer. It took him a while before he suddenly realised that it was none other than Lady Kaguya sitting next to him.

" Gah!" Hiroshi exclaimed in utter surprise. Not only was he shocked to see her sitting next to him, she was fairly close. He did like a jump, not before falling out of bed, landing painfully on the floor on his right. " Ohhh....that hurt..." Hiroshi groaned, rolling on the floor as he grabbed his chest.

" Hiroshi, are you alright?!" Lady Kaguya exclaimed, shocked and scared at the same time when Hiroshi fell off his bed.

" What the...hey, don't over strain yourself!" Ryouta's voice suddenly replied.

He felt some firm strong hands grab him, before being lifted back on the bed. Ryouta looked worried, and amused, at the same time as he placed Hiroshi back in the bed. Hiroshi took a look around him. They were apparently in some sort of room, or an inn to be more precise. Night had fallen over the place, and it was very dark. He looked around the place. There were a couple of beds around the place, and it seemed that Kira and Tayu were sleeping in them. The rest of his comrades were lying by the sides, sitting down and having propped themselves on the walls while they slept.

" Ugh...so, what happened?" Hiroshi asked. " How long have I been out?"

" You've been out for some hours," Ryouta replied. " We managed to push them back, and the rest of them fled. You did great holding out on your own there by yourself. You even got me worried for a while. In fact, you probably did the best, considering you were the only one to score a hit on them..."

" Oh...really?" Hiroshi mused, not sure whether to be happy, or surprised at the fact.

" When we got to where you were, we found you unconscious, and bleeding quite badly. Suzumi managed to administer some first aid there and then. Since we were beaten quite badly, we moved towards the city we were heading towards, booked a room in an inn, and decided to camp here for the night," Ryouta replied. " Tayu and Kira were hurt pretty badly during the fight, so we had them to rest. The rest of us, besides you, were fine, after Suzumi treated us," Ryouta answered. " We're keeping watch now, besides Suzumi, since she's dead tired from treating all of us."

" How about me?" Hiroshi asked.

" Forget it, you've been hurt. I'm more than capable enough to take your share," Ryouta replied, before looking at Lady Kaguya. " Lady Kaguya, you should get some rest as well. You've been looking after Hiroshi, Tayu and Kira for sometime now. You should rest as well." With that, he walked towards the balcony, and leaned against the wall, looking out at the city that was spread right in front of him.

" Uh...thanks for taking care of me..." Hiroshi replied.

" Don't worry about it," Lady Kaguya replied, smiling back at him. " It's the least I can do to you all for what you are going through for me..."

" Hah, there is no need to put it that way. You know, we are just doing our jobs..." Hiroshi replied sheepishly as he scratched his head.

" You...really think so?" Lady Kaguya replied, sounding a little taken aback.

Hiroshi felt startled, as he didn't meant to insult her in any way. " What, I err...no, I meant...you, know, I was just trying to be modest..." Hiroshi replied.

He was suddenly greeted by Lady Kaguya giggling at his expense. Hiroshi turned to look at her as she continued to laugh, covering her mouth as she tried to stifle her laughter as he eyes started to water. Hiroshi raised his eyebrows, wondering what was this all about.

" I'm just pulling your leg, Hiroshi. Please don't take offense of what I just did," Lady Kaguya replied.

" Urm...okay, sure, Lady Kaguya..." Hiroshi replied, as he continued to scratch his head.

" Don't need to be so stoic and serious around me. I assure you, I don't mind if you shinobis relax a bit and talk to me more like an equal," Lady Kaguya replied.

" I'll...try..." Hiroshi replied.

" Oh well, I guess it's a start," Lady Kaguya replied.

" ...Wait, am I supposed to now engage in some random chat with you?" Hirsohi asked when he noticed Lady Kaguya looking at him as if waiting for something form him.

" ...If you want to..." Lady Kagua replied, smiling again.

"..."

"..."

" Oh well, I guess I can start by asking what exactly do you do?" Hiroshi replied.

" I'm sorry, I don't really get what you mean by that statement," Lady Kaguya replied apologetically.

" I meant...well, you are a daughter of a lord, right? That sort of makes you a lord as well. I was just wondering, what exactly do lords do?" Hiroshi asked.

" Ah well, good question. I don't do anything, per se," she replied.

" ...Must be boring being a lord," Hiroshi mused.

" Well, that's because I'm not old enough," Lady Kaguya replied. " Well, I guess the main thing a lord has to do is to look after the people and land. Depending on your status, social circle, politics and wealth can determine how influential a lord can be. Lords are more like leaders of our countries, or more like people in power."

Hiroshi wasn't too sure how this system worked, but Lords run the country. The shinobis in the village of Konoha were mere soldiers for the country, and it was the lord of the country that really controlled them. Hiroshi had always envisioned that the Hokage was the main leader of Konoha, but the lords apparently have higher rank than her.

" The most I do is study," Lady Kaguya replied. Hiroshi wondered what exactly did she study, because the only things he ever did study back in the academy was things dealing with shinobis. " But Lords like my father have to deal with people in general. Like the economics and money."

" Hmm, sounds difficult..." Hiroshi mused. He would take stabbing someone with a kunai over country economics. Lady Kaguya merely smiled at him. " So, how'd you really met? I mean, with Tayu and Kira, that is..."

" It was as Kira said," Lad Kaguya replied. Hiroshi seemed to notice that her eyes were sparkling slightly. " I found Tayu crying in the middle of the street, seemingly lost. It was apparently some time during a festival, and within the crowd she somehow got separated from her parents. Typically, like all young kids, she started to get scared and cried. Apparently, she somehow managed to drag Kira in to the mess."

" Hmm? How?" Hiroshi asked.

" Honestly, they had not met before then. However, seeing he was her age, perhaps Tayu felt more comfortable by staying next to this younger kid, who was Kira. However, maybe it was just me, but he did look irritated when I met them, as if Tayu had been bothering him by her crying the whole time. I just did what I would normally do: find her parents and send her back," Lady Kaguya replied.

" ...Hmm, that's a lot of loyalty for just a favour..." Hiroshi replied.

" Not really," Lady Kaguya replied. " Let's say if your Leaf friend...that girl, Sora, was hurt. Would you go and help her?"

" ...I'd wait, and make sure she's really hurt before going two feet next to her," Hiroshi answered.

" ..."

" It's an inside joke, Lady Kaguya. With people like her, even if you kill her, she just won't die. Besides, she's most likely to beat me up for asking whether she's alright or not," Hiroshi replied. Lady Kaguya giggled when Hiroshi explained. " But yes, honestly, I would..."

" The same applies to us. Tayu, Kira and I...we're just...good friends," Lady Kaguya replied.

Ryouta looked out at the city below him. The city's nightlife sure was busy and exciting. The whole city was flooded with people and lights, even at this hour. It was close to midnight already, yet the city was still alive at this hour. Ryouta took a deep breath, and sighed loudly.

It had been a hectic day today. They had been ambushed by their enemies, and not only that, they were former shinobi of their respective villages. Hiroshi wasn't sure if it was a weird twist of fate, but he didn't feel too comfortable with it. Also, he had trouble trying to figure out who was behind all this.

Surely some dark organisation that was acting behind the scenes. Their opponents have been fairly numerous, and this might just be the tip of the iceberg. If so, then this organisation must be fairly large to have such a large number of shinobi. Ryouta tried to think of what would these people actually gain by disrupting Konoha's economy, but he gave up on it a second later. It wasn't in his place to think of these things.

Ryouta wondered how were Sousuke, Yuuko and Sakita doing. He would be unable to hear any news from them until they completed this mission at the very least. He hoped that they were fine, and not doing anything risky to draw the enemy's attention away from them. Ryouta shook his head and sighed once more. All this thinking and worrying was bad for him. As a leader, he had to stay firm and strong for the sake of the team. He tried to put the worries he had to the back of his mind as he walked back inside the room, having had enough of the cold night air.

Hiroshi and Lady Kaguya were still up, apparently conversing. Ryouta didn't wish to disturb them, so he walked back into the other part of the room. Tayu and Suzumi were sound asleep, being wounded and tired respectively took quite a toll from them, as Ryouta observed their faint breathing and rise and fall of their chest. Suzumi's hair was all over her face in a mess as she didn't even bother cleaning herself before dropping off, and Ryouta didn't really blame her.

As for the other guys, Ryouta was pretty sure they were awake.

" Hey," Ryouta replied, nudging Hibiki's feet. " If you idiots aren't going to sleep, you can keep me occupied a bit."

" ...Damn, noticed, did you?" Makoto replied, grinning slightly.

" Pfft, I wouldn't attain my current rank now if I didn't know you idiots were not sleeping," Ryouta replied. " Having trouble sleeping, Kira?"

Kira didn't answer, nor move, but Ryouta knew he was quite awake. However, he didn't bother pressing on the subject with Kira.

" So, apparently you know these Sand-nins we have been facing," Ryouta replied. Makoto and Hibiki didn't answer, but merely nodded their heads. " How are you all acquainted?"

" The academy. We used to be students there, so we got to know each other from there. They became missing-nins from about a year ago. Never thought I'd see them again. Truly, this is a small world after all," Makoto replied, sighing.

" Were you close?" Ryouta asked.

" No, who gives a shit about these assholes?" Hibiki spat.

" Yes, we were..." Makoto corrected him.

" Bah..." Hibiki merely spat.

" ...Are you okay with this?" Ryouta asked.

Makoto thought to himself. Was this question supposed to even mean anything? After all, as a loyal shinobi of the Sand, traitor should be treated with all the same respect as one treated a threat to the country. Should this question even be asked? Makoto merely chuckled as he leaned backwards, reminiscing about that very fateful day.

---

_About more than a year ago_

" It's freaking cold!" Hibiki exclaimed loudly.

" Urm, Hibiki, we are supposed to be watching the area on this post here, not yell loudly when we feel like it," Suzumi replied.

" Still, it's fucking cold!" Hibiki groaned.

" ...You could have gotten something warmer to wear," Suzumi replied.

" Damn, jackets and capes get in my way and style. Screw them I say. In fact, I shouldn't even be here. Damn Temari-sensei! Argh!" Hibiki exclaimed.

Both Suzumi and Hibiki were stationed at one of the outposts at their Sand village to keep an eye out for anything suspicious, and they were on guard duty today. However, during the night, the temperature in the desert was no joke. Temperatures could sometimes drop below freezing, and to the inexperienced, sometimes it could even lead them to their deaths.

Despite that, Hibiki disliked wearing too much clothes. Suzumi, besides being dressed in her usual attire, was wearing an extra cotton jacket and a thick cotton cape, so she was snug and warm despite the cold. Hibiki was only wearing his usual attire, which comprises of usually something sleeveless, so the cold winds was bothering him to no end.

" Damn, I hate keeping watch. It's boring, there is nothing to do, and it's usually too cold, or too hot," Hibiki groaned. " Temari-sensei knows I hate this shit. Why am I even here then?"

" It does build character," Suzumi replied, smiling.

" Screw character building, I've got more than enough character," Hibiki replied.

" Well, if the cold is bothering you so much, why don't I lend you my jacket? I'm pretty warm enough with just the cape, and my jacket is already pre-warmed, not to mention fairly large, so you should be able to fit into it. It won't smell, I promise...it'll just smell like me," Suzumi replied.

" That's nice, but...wait, what?" Hibiki asked, turning around.

" I was offering you my jacket," Suzumi replied. Hibiki wondered if he was imagining things. Suzumi was offering her jacket to him. There was nothing wrong with that, except she was doing it in a very seductive kind of way, like batting her eyelids and smiling warmly at him. Suzumi could catch the colour change on his face.

" What the...?" Hibiki gasped, taking a step back, obviously uncomfortable with this turn of events.

" Come on, I know you want it," Suzumi replied teasingly. " I mean, what other reason was there for you to help me take in the laundry? You probably just want to sniff the smell of my attire."

" ...This is so wrong, you know that," Hibiki replied, pointing a finger at her while trying to stay calm. " I'm the one supposed to be doing the sexual innuendo here, not you."

Suzumi burst out in s fit of giggles, holding her stomach as she laughed hard. She was apparently having too much fun on Hibiki's expense. " Oh, Hibiki, you are so fun to tease, not to mention easy to embarrass," Suzumi laughed, before replying in a sly manner " Perv...having dirty thoughts about me, are you?"

" ...Don't tell me this is another of Hiroshi's suggestions. Honestly, do you get all these ideas to tease me from him?" Hibiki asked. It wasn't really necessary, since he knew the answer already. Suzumi had been getting a bit bolder lately, especially with her style of speech, and he had Hiroshi to thank for that. Suzumi and Hiroshi conversed a lot through mail, and one of the main topics they discussed fervently was how to play tricks with Hibiki, at his expense. " This isn't funny, you know? Where's the old, simple, naïve, innocent, shy and easy to tease Suzumi I once know?"

" Hey, if I was so easy to tease, it wouldn't be fun no? Besides, do you dislike me as I am now?" Suzumi asked.

" No, you know I like you regardless of what you become," Hibiki replied.

" What's going on here?"

Both of them turned around to see Makoto climb up to their observation point on part of the wall that surrounded the Sand village in which they were on. He too was dress warmly, a thick cape over his standard issue Sand attire. He raised his eyebrows as he met both of them.

" Nothing much, I was just playing Hibiki for a fool," Suzumi replied, grinning.

" Oh, what did you do? Tell me, so maybe I can play him for a fool later," Makoto replied.

" Don't. If you do it, it'll be gay, alright?" Hibiki replied.

Makoto gave a surprised look, before bursting out in laughter as he realised what he meant, making Hibiki go even redder and Suzumi to giggle even harder. " Glad to be the comic relief in this party," Hibiki replied. " Damn, it's cold. I'm off. Come on, Suzumi, let's go get something warm for supper. I'm starving. I'll be seeing you around."

" See you later, Makoto," Suzumi replied cheerfully, before leaving. Makoto merely waved to her as she left, before taking his place as he leaned against the edge of the observation post, observing the area below with his ears as far as they could go. He took a deep breath, before suddenly saying " Hey, Hachi, looks like you brought something tonight."

" ...Geez, your listening capabilities are just scary sometimes..." Hachi replied.

A kid his age stepped up from behind, holding a thermos bottle in his hand and several cups. Hachi had dark brown hair which was neatly combed all the time, as far as Makoto could remember. He set the cups down and poured for both Makoto and himself a drink each.

" Well, what's this? Coffee again? You sure do like bitter stuff, don't you?" Makoto said, graciously accepting a cup.

" Well, tells a lot about my personality," Hachi replied. Both boys burst out laughing, before settling down. " Well, least it will keep you warm."

" No complaints there," Makoto replied, taking a sip.

" So, how are the new recruits these days?" Hachi asked.

" Not bad, but they can't hardly be able to match our year," Makoto replied.

" Ever the arrogant one, aren't you?" Hachi joked.

" Hey, I am saying this for your sake as well, you know," Makoto replied, grinning.

" Hear, hear," Hachi replied, chuckling under his breath.

" Damn, still can't get used to these cold nights in the desert, even after living here all my life," Makoto replied. " Maybe it's just me not liking the cold."

" You do have a penchant for avoiding ice-cream when you can afford it," Hachi replied.

" Yeah, must be it," Makoto replied, placing his cup down by the side. " You know there has been something bothering me for a while now, and I just can't seem to find an answer for it. Can I ask you for your council?"

" Well, if it's something within my power to help, why not? Fire away, Makoto," Hachi replied, grinning.

" I was wondering, what kind of poison did you put in this coffee for me?" Makoto asked.

Hachi tensed up all of a sudden when he heard those words. His eyes darted around, wondering if he was being watched, before returning his gaze to Makoto. Makoto didn't move or anything, but merely leaned against the railings, not even looking at him. Hachi looked at his cup, before settling it down by the side as well.

" Don't worry, nobody's here, besides you and me..." Makoto replied. " And those 5 other idiots down below at the gates we are supposed to be watching tonight."

" ...You knew..." Hachi mused.

" I'm insulted, Hachi. I'm blind, but this doesn't mean I'm dumb," Makoto replied.

" How'd you know I poisoned your coffee?" Hachi asked.

" Well, obvious. You were not drinking it, plus the fact that when I took a sip, you were watching me intently, as if waiting for something. It doesn't take much to know what you were planning," Makoto replied. " Thankfully, you only added an anesthetic...if this was really poison, I'd kill you right now. Least you were nice enough to just knock me unconscious."

Hachi merely frowned.

" You knew then..." Hachi replied.

" Hachi, I've known you for 8 long years. We used to be best friends," Makoto replied. " To think I'd forget your habits this easily, you surely didn't think of me much, do you?"

Hachi seemed to hang his head in shame. " It is a shame, I guess I did," Hachi replied. " You were ever the smart one in the class. So, you told the authorities?"

" No."

" No?"

" I took the liberty to not tell them," Makoto answered. " The only people who now you six are leaving is Hibiki and me. No one else knows, as of now."

" Not even Suzumi?" Hachi asked.

" Suzumi would have convinced you to stay. I don't see that as a very...pretty picture when that happens," Makoto answered.

" I see..."

" ..."

" ..."

" ...So, are you leaving now, or what?" Makoto asked.

" ...I don't get you," Hachi replied. " You know we are betraying the Sand by leaving our village, and yet, you are allowing us to leave. You even knew of this beforehand. I don't get you, Makoto. You are allowing us to leave?"

" You'd rather I kill you now?" Makoto asked.

" ...You know you can't..." Hachi replied.

" Care to test your theory?" Makoto asked, turning his head now to face Hachi. He now emitted an immense killing aura, one that made him was well known within his own personal circle. Hachi clenched his fists as he felt the presence of his killing aura, ready to strike on his whenever possible.

" ...I'm against the notion of you idiots leaving, but I guess...I don't know, pity, perhaps. I...understand to some degree why you need to leave. That's why I'm not stopping you from leaving, even if it is against the rules," Makoto replied. " I did care for Aya, you know. What do you think she'd think of me if I had to kill the person she loved the most? She'd probably think this is the stupidest thing you'll be doing in your live, but she'd hate to see both of us trying to kill each other, no?"

" ...Makoto, you..."

" Accept this as a final gift, from a good friend you once knew," Makoto replied.

Makoto couldn't really see, or hear, it well, but if he had to take a guess, he thought he heard tears fall from Hachi's cheeks. Makoto didn't say a word, and neither did Hachi. Both of them stood there for some time, keeping silent.

" What...will you say?" Hachi asked.

" That you didn't show up. They'll then look for you, before realising you idiots defected," Makoto replied.

"...Makoto..."

" What now? Trying to get sentimental with me?" Makoto mused.

" I'd...like to apologise," Hachi replied. Makoto didn't reply, so Hachi continued. " I'm sorry for rejecting you like that all those years ago. It was, after all, my jealousy and ego that did that, but still, you stood firm, even now. I was wrong...to have pushed a valuable friend away from me like that. I'm sorry..."

" Apology accepted, now get the fuck out of here," Makoto replied.

As Hachi hopped on the railings, Makoto spoke again. " A word of warning: If we meet again, there will be no second chances," Makoto replied.

Hachi merely smiled. " Let's hope we don't then," Hachi replied, running down the wall and disappearing from sight. It was the last time since then that Makoto saw Hachi. Makoto took a deep breath and sighed. " I don't know about you, Aya, but...did I do the right thing, or the wrong one?" Makoto spoke aloud to himself as he looked up towards the night sky.

---

Makoto merely looked up at Ryouta, who looked down upon him. " Of course, I will not hesitate," he answered. Ryouta merely nodded his head, before walking off. Midnight was almost here, after all. Makoto and Hibiki merely watched him leave, before Hibiki heard Makoto sigh in a depressed manner a while later when Ryouta was out of earshot.


	13. Chapter 12: Kisurugi Makoto

**Chapter 12: Kisurugi Makoto**

By the time Hiroshi woke up the next day, the rays of the morning sun was already shining through his window. He felt well rested, and ready to go, although his body did feel a little stiff. It came as to no surprise after all, as he did get himself quite seriously injured previously. He stretched himself, yawning loudly as he did so.

" Hmm, Hiroshi, why is she sleeping with you?" a voice asked.

Hiroshi turned to his right to see Suzumi standing next to him with a questioning look in her face. He raised his eyebrows, before returning his gaze to the bed. Perhaps he was still fairly groggy, which would explain why he didn't notice it the first time, but he now realized that Lady Kaguya had fallen asleep next to his bed, her head slumped on the bed from where she was sitting from.

" …I can assure you I wasn't doing anything funny with her last night," Hiroshi replied awkwardly.

" I know you well enough to know you won't, so why are you denying the fact in such a suspicious manner?" Suzumi asked. " How are you feeling today, Hiroshi?"

" Me? Well, I guess I'm feeling fine, I guess…" Hiroshi replied.

He was a little taken aback when Suzumi came up to him and hugged him tightly all of a sudden. Hiroshi wasn't sure whether to respond in kind or not, as he held his hands in the air in an awkward fashion. Hiroshi wasn't sure how long exactly did she hug him for, but he figured it was for some time. It felt very awkward, yet very comforting at the same time.

" I…was so worried…" Suzumi sniffled.

Hiroshi finally got the gist of what she was doing, and he wrapped his hands around her to comfort her as well. Suzumi felt so snug and comfortable on his chest, not to mention she did smell nice. " Heh, that's nice to hear, Suzumi," Hiroshi replied.

Hiroshi heard a couple of footsteps approaching, before seeing Makoto and Hibiki enter the room, stopping in their tracks when they noticed Suzumi hugging Hiroshi in such an intimate manner. The two boys paused, seemed to blush slightly, before looking at each other. They then gave Hiroshi a silly looking grin each before leaving the room. Suzumi didn't seem to notice their presence.

-

" Oh, are you awake?" Sora asked.

Tayu was sitting upright on her bed, rubbing her shoulders. She still looked tired, or either that it was caused by her previous injuries. She glanced towards the other bed where Kira was supposed to be sleeping in. He had apparently woken up and left already, the bed neatly tidied. Sora figured he was tough enough to be moving by himself, although she wasn't sure where exactly did he go to.

" Yeah, I'm fine," Tayu mused. " What the heck happened to your hands?"

Sora looked at her hands, which were now covered in even more bandages, and they looked freshly wrapped. " Eh, these…nothing much. Hurt myself a little, but they aren't going to keep me back too much. I'm a tough chick after all," Sora proudly exclaimed, showing Tayu her fists.

" Yah, I can obviously see that," Tayu replied, getting out of bed.

" Should you really be getting out of bed?" Sora asked.

" Perhaps. We can't linger here too long, or else our enemies might catch up to us within this time frame where we are resting. We will need to move soon," Tayu replied.

" Yeah, at least until you feel better," Sora argued.

" I'm fine," Tayu replied, standing up, wincing slightly as she did. Sora merely sighed and shook her head, before leaving the room.

-

Hiroshi waited quietly on the chair as Suzumi changed his bandages. They were soaked in his blood, and quite dirty, so Suzumi insisted on getting a new set of bandages for his injuries. Hiroshi said he could very well do it himself, since he was a trained medic-nin as well, but Suzumi was rather adamant on bandaging him for some reason, so Hiroshi didn't really want to argue with her.

" There, all done!" Suzumi exclaimed as she put the finishing touches of her bandages. Hiroshi took a look to see the bandage wrapped around his chest neatly. Suzumi sure knew how to do a good job at this. " You'll be fine now."

" Yeah, I guess so," Hiroshi replied, slipping his vest on. There was a puncture mark on his vest where Yui had stabbed him. Even with his vest, it was still unable to stop a win-based weapon from piercing his defenses. He then slipped on his clothes over his vest before packing his bag and packs on his back.

" I wonder if I should go see the rest of them," Suzumi replied. " Hey!"

Hiroshi spun around when Suzumi suddenly gave a loud exclamation. He turned to only see Kira enter the room, already dressed, his ripped cloak billowing against the slightly wind as he thumbed his daggers. Hiroshi always wondered why Kira had to run his thumb over the hilt of his daggers all the time, as if giving a sign he would knife them at any given notice.

" You removed your bandages!" Suzumi exclaimed. Hiroshi wasn't too sure how she managed to figure that out, since Kira already had his attire on, and if Hiroshi remembered correctly, he was also injured on his chest. Kira somehow managed to find a replacement shirt to wear, but his cotton vest still bore marks of his last fight, especially that severe looking gash it had in the middle. Hiroshi was quite surprised that Kira was up and about, although maybe his wounds were not as serious as he had imagined.

Kira didn't answer, but nod his head. " Why did you do that? I had bandages there for a reason, you know," Suzumi replied. Kira didn't answer, but merely grunted. He didn't sound angry that Suzumi was harping on him, but he didn't show any outward concern about it. Perhaps the bandages restricted his movements and he just decided to remove them. At least he wasn't openly bleeding from removing his bandages, so it shouldn't be too much of a problem.

" Hmm?" someone mused. They turned around to see Lady kaguya wake up from her sleep, rubbing her sleepy eyes.

" Oh, Lady Kaguya, you are awake," Suzumi exclaimed.

" I guess I am…" she replied sleepily, before her eyes caught sight of Kira. " Ah, you are up as well. How are you feeling?" Kira merely nodded his head. Hiroshi thought that was a somewhat awkward way to say he was fine.

" Looks like everyone's awake now," Sora replied, entering through the door, before throwing her arms over Kira's shoulders and leaned on him. Kira merely gave her a brooding face, but Hiroshi remembered Tayu mentioning that if Kira didn't object, it meant he was okay with whatever it was. " Since the cook was an invalid, we got some breakfast made for you. Come on, let's eat."

" …Wait, did you start before us?" Hiroshi asked.

Sora wiped the breadcrumbs on the edges of her mouth. " Heh, guess I did. But I ain't finished with breakfast yet," Sora replied, skipping out of the room. Hiroshi sighed loudly, before getting up to follow her.

-

" I'm pretty sure this isn't as good as what you could possibly cook up, but you know, too bad I was the cook for today," Ryouta said, holding up a large plate of sandwiches towards Hiroshi, Suzumi, Lady Kaguya, Sora and Kira as they entered the small kitchenette where Ryouta and Makoto were busy preparing food. Tayu and Hibiki were merely munching on the sandwiches they already prepared.

" Geez, it's just a sandwich, how is it physically possible to go wrong with a sandwich?" Hiroshi asked, taking a slice for himself and taking a large bite. It took a while before he made an odd looking face. " It take my statement back. You indeed screwed this up," Hiroshi replied, while Ryouta scratched his head while looking back sheepishly.

" Hey, don't blame us. The only things Ryouta is good at is burning stuff. And you got a blind guy helping him make sandwiches. How the heck do you expect us to make it good?" Makoto asked, grinning. " Although, he might be able to make good toast though."

" It's…a bit bland," Lady Kaguya commented.

" I will hold you in contempt for feeding Lady Kaguya such crap," Tayu laughed. Hiroshi felt it was good to see Tayu was alright despite her injuries.

" What did you put in this sandwich anyway?" Hiroshi asked.

" Urm, some chicken strips, lettuce and butter," Ryouta answered.

" Simple, the chicken tastes like rubber. Why don't you get something like ham? You can't go wrong with ham, unless the ham looks like crap to begin with," Hiroshi sighed. " Never mind, it's not all that bad anyway."

" What's the next plan of action anyway?" Hibiki asked.

" Well, if everyone's alright by now, we should move. We can't afford to linger too long here. After a couple of hours, we should head out, unless if the injured people have anything to say about it," Ryouta replied. Tayu, Kira and Hiroshi shook their heads in unison. " Guess we don't have a problem then."

" Wait, Ryouta, they had just recovered. They can't afford to move so soon," Suzumi replied.

" Looking at it in a medical perspective, I guess they should not be moving yet, but we are on the run, Suzumi. The enemy is hardly going to wait for us to recover, before making their move when we have very well rested. If they can move, we will do so as quickly as possible," Ryouta replied.

" But…" Suzumi tried to argue.

" Geez, I'm fine. You don't have to worry about me too much," Hiroshi sighed.

Suzumi merely made a face and frowned. " Well, fine…I guess…just don't overstrain yourself, okay?" Suzumi replied to the three of them.

" Geez, you sound like their mother," Hibiki sighed.

" Heh, so what do we do before that?" Makoto asked.

" I was hoping you could fill us in on those comrades of yours," Ryouta replied. " More specifically, their skills. It's obvious whoever they are affiliated to wants Lady Kaguya, and I'm pretty sure we are going to meet up again. Let's hear about them, since you seem familiar with their techniques, and personally as well."

Makoto kept quiet for a while, looking as if he was unsure what to say. " Why don't I start, huh?" Hibiki replied. " We've already dealt with Negi and Yui, so we don't need to know too much about these two idiots. These guys who left the Sand were from our class, and were in a team of 6, thus this leaves four more of them. Shin is a taijutsu expert. I'm not sure what form he uses, but I do know he bases his attacks on strength, but he's nothing against Sora. I'm not too worried about him."

Sora shot Hibiki an odd look, although he didn't seem to notice this. Hiroshi also raised his eyebrows while Suzumi looked at him curiously. This was indeed a rare event. Hibiki actually gave Sora a compliment, albeit an indirect one.

" Yoko's a genjutsu expert, like Suzumi is, but I'd venture that Suzumi's better, not that this is a biased conclusion. Not to mention she knows medical stuff as well. As for Ryoku and Hachi, that's a different story though," Hibiki replied.

" Ryoku is an expert wind ninjutsu user, as you all could see last night. However, not only that, he has somehow mastered the art to dispel wind ninjutsu. With that, he makes quite a formidable opponent, especially towards me. He's fairly calculative in his methods, so I'd advice you all use caution with him," Makoto replied. " The final person is Hachi. He's the leader of this motley crew of missing-nins."

" You did mention that Ryoku picked up this wind-dispelling ability from Hachi," Ryouta replied.

" Indeed, but he's not a ninjutsu user," Makoto answered.

" No?" Sora asked.

" Nope, he's a puppeteer," Suzumi replied.

There was this awkward silence that punctuated the room, before all eyes suddenly lay rest upon Hiroshi. " Hey, hey, hey, why are you all looking at me? Hey, if this guy is their leader, then it would mean he's good right? Heck, you all should know that I'm your weakest combatant here!"

" Unfortunately, that's absolutely wrong. If we are to face Hachi, we will need you to do it," Makoto answered.

" …WHAT?!" Hiroshi yelled.

" Really?" Ryouta asked.

" Alright, I'll explain," Hibiki replied. " What sets puppeteers aside from normal shinobi, conventionally, that is."

" Puppets?" Tayu ventured.

" Well, yes, but more specifically, traps," Hibiki replied. " Puppeteers are masters at using traps, and deception. In other words trickery. Thus, one of the most unpredictable shinobis are puppeteers, and this gives them an edge in combat. Let's say you are fighting a wind ninjutsu opponent. Knowing just that, you can basically guess how his fighting style goes, either melee combat using wind elemental weapons or wind blades, or long ranges, powerful wind blasts. This already gives you a general idea on how he would fight, and a couple of seconds into the fight will grant you the ability to figure out his pattern. Now, let's say you see Hiroshi and his puppet. What, exactly, do you know, about his puppet, or his style of fighting?"

Realization seemed to strike upon Ryouta, who looked up in surprise. " That's it, nothing. The puppeteers hidden skill is his unknown ability. You have no idea what traps are in the puppet. He could use short range attack, or long range projectiles, or mid-range explosives. The abilities are endless," Hibiki replied.

" Wait, but why would I have to deal with him?" Hiroshi asked.

" It is typical in the Sand that if you are to beat a puppeteer, you need to be several classes above him. A puppeteer of the same class goes into battle with an advantage by being able to guess what his opponent fighting style is to some degree. Hachi, is no exception," Hibiki replied. " He is, after all, close to jounin level."

Hiroshi gave an audible gulp.

" Hibiki's right, Hiroshi," Makoto replied. " Even if Hibiki and I know him, his style can change, as does yours. Hachi is a year older than us, and also of a class of his own. Neither Hibiki or I can beat him, I can assure you as much. The only person who can actually stand a chance against Hachi is only you. Puppeteers will think alike, and their trickery is limited to their puppets. I hate to say this, but we will need to depend on you if we face Hachi."

Hiroshi felt his gut drop. Waking up after the morning he took a beating, his comrades now dropped the bomb on his lap, telling him the best person to tackle the leader of this Sand-pack was only Hiroshi. There was a terrible sense of dread overcoming him right now.

" You cannot seriously expect Hiroshi to handle him," Sora replied. " Alright, not that I'm putting him down or anything, but he's a rookie chuunin. Are you asking him to fend off against someone close to a jounin class by himself?"

" Unfortunately, Hiroshi's the only chance we got if we run into Hachi, assuming we need to tackle our opponents one-on-on. His wind neutralizing jutsu renders me completely useless if I face him, and Hibiki's attacks will be hindered as well. Suzumi is in no shape to tackle Hachi, I can assure you as much, and a close combatant like you and Kira might be unsuited for dangerous tactics like him, not to mention he uses poison as well. The only people who can tackle Hachi to some degree would be either Tayu, with her ranged needle attack, or Ryouta, with his one of a kind ninjutsu speciality," Makoto replied.

" What would you advice us to do if we do meet him?" Ryouta asked.

" Run…" was Makoto's only reply.

" Well, we might not run into him, if we are lucky," Sora replied.

" Nope, that unfortunately will not be the case," Makoto answered. " These Sand-nins….how should I put it, they are close. Why do you think they even agreed to leave at the same time, together? They are close friends, all of them, even to us previously. If there is anything Hachi values above all, it's friendship. Now, for the fact that we actually killed Yui, knowing his personality, he will be out for blood regardless. That's why I even brought this up, because I figure he's going to be after our tail personally."

Hiroshi gulped. So, apparently this mess started because he somehow managed to kill Yui in their fight together. Hiroshi felt bad somehow. It felt like he had managed to screw them all up with his simple task. He didn't feel happy of surprised with his kill now. He felt dreadful.

Suzumi slipped her hand onto his, gripping it tightly as if to comfort him. " Hiroshi, we aren't blaming you, you know," she replied.

" Indeed, Hiroshi, it's not your fault. If you hadn't fought back with all your strength, you'd be dead, and I'd hate that to hang on my conscience. I don't blame you for what you did, and honestly, you did well," Makoto replied.

Hiroshi tried to give a weak smile, but a sudden bang interrupted him. Sora slammed her hands on a nearby cabinet, denting the door slightly. " Wait one fucking moment…your conscience?! What the hell does your conscience have to do with anything?! Why am I getting the feeling that you somehow mean that Hachi being a missing-nin is somehow your fault?" Sora exclaimed.

There was some short, almost inaudible gasp coming from Suzumi, which sort of confirmed it. Sora merely glared at Makoto, while he looked back at her in a serene manner. Hibiki sighed, giving the 'I knew it would come to this' face.

" Honestly speaking, yes, it was because of me that Hachi became a missing-nin," Makoto replied.

" How much of that statement is true?" Ryouta asked.

-

The three Sand-nins were gathered in the kitchenette, Hibiki leaning by the corner, Makoto seated on the table while Suzumi stood at the far corner, as if trying to keep out of the conversation. She had Hiroshi stand next to him, and she was holding his hand, as if letting it go would allow disaster to follow.

Lady Kaguya, Tayu and Kira had left the place, probably to talk amongst themselves. Sora was nowhere to be seen. Ryouta wasn't sure whether she was angry at the statement Makoto made, or just plain weird today.

" Every bit..." Makoto replied.

" Explain..." Ryouta replied.

" When Hachi and his gang decided to leave the village, I didn't stop them," Makoto replied.

" Even though having prior knowledge of their eventual departure?" Ryouta asked.

" Yeah..."

" I knew we should have kicked that assholes butt when we had the chance," Hibiki replied. " Guess irony has come back to bit you, or to be more precise, us, in the rear end, huh?"

" Hibiki, shut up!" Suzumi shouted loudly.

" Hey, just making a point there...no need to get prissy with me," Hibiki replied. Hiroshi figured Hibiki was just annoyed in general, since it wasn't normal of him to use the word prissy, especially towards someone like Suzumi. " We somehow managed to figure out that Hachi and his gang wanted to leave the village about more than a year ago. Of course, I was more than willing to call the authorities to stop them, but Makoto was adamant on not telling them. He suggested that we allowed them to leave..."

" And you let him do it?" Ryouta asked.

" He had his reasons, and I wasn't going to argue with him. After all, Makoto knew this group pretty well, and I wasn't one to try and strain our relationship over this shit," Hibiki replied. Although he said he didn't want to strain the relationship, Hibiki still sounded piss somewhat. Suzumi merely looked at both of them with worried faces.

" I'm surprised Suzumi didn't argue with you about it," Ryouta replied.

" That's because we didn't tell her about it," Makoto answered.

" Yeah, that was at least the most sensible thing he did the whole day that day," Hibiki chuckled.

" Bastards," Suzumi growled, making a face at them, which was hilarious, since she looked very funny while doing that.

" You would make too much fuss about it, and frankly, it would have been messy," Makoto answered. " I don't know how to answer to this, but frankly, this is really something that is of my fault..."

Ryouta frowned as he sat down, deep in thought. " Well, I'm not sure what to say. This is a bad revelation, not that I really blame you for it," Ryouta replied. " I'm not sure why you even brought this up...wait, I guess Sora made you bring this up..."

" Look, I guess it's fine, really," Hiroshi spoke up. " You letting Hachi go wasn't your fault. I mean, I'd have a hard time trying not to let Ryouta leave the village if this situation would ever arise. So don't sweat it...you are not guilty of anything..." He walked over and patted Makoto on his shoulder.

" No, I am guilty of all this, and I cannot, and will not, put it to the back of my mind," Makoto replied. " Naïve thinking, Hiroshi. Have you ever considered this? If you allowed Ryouta to leave, and some time later, he came back as a dangerous missing-nin, and kills Suzumi, let's say for instance, in a skirmish. Now, tell me, how would you feel?"

Hiroshi was a little lost for words against such a scenario. " Sorry, Hiroshi, this isn't something I'm going to be able to live with comfortably for the rest of my life, no matter the result," Makoto replied. He got up and left the room in silence, not before muttering " I fucking hate choices..."


	14. Chapter 13: Respite

**Chapter 13: Respite**

" Hmm, who knew Makoto had such a complicated past? He's always so serious, calm and collected. Hard to imagine him having such a past..." Hiroshi sighed, speaking to Suzumi as they sat next to one another at the campsite. " Wonder what's going through his brain right now?"

" I kinda feel sorry for him," Suzumi replied.

" Hmm?"

" He used to be good friends with Hachi. They did have a fallout later on, but I think they still held each other in respect regardless. Makoto...I guess he's fairly tormented about this," Suzumi replied, leaning against Hiroshi's shoulder. Hiroshi merely sighed.

They had already moved out from the inn and were heading towards their destination. Right now, they were taking a quick break in a forest area, and Hiroshi and Suzumi were sitting together beneath a tree, Suzumi leaning on Hiroshi's shoulders. Both of them were discussing about Hachi, and his relationship with Makoto. Hiroshi wondered how hard was Makoto taking this fact. Was he ready to kill someone he knew, if it came to that?

Makoto sat some distance away from them, leaning against a tree while keeping watch of the area. Hiroshi pondered if he was avoiding them in some way somehow. He did look a little forlorn and lonely, or perhaps this was just Hiroshi's imagination. Their morning discussion did leave some sort of sour taste to the mouth.

Hiroshi's nose caught scent of something strange in the air. He wasn't too sure what the smell was. It was most definitely foreign, but still tantalising to the senses somewhat. It took him a little while to realise that the smell came from Suzumi herself, quite possibly the scent of her hair.

" You smell...nice..." Hiroshi suddenly replied at random.

" Hmm...thanks..." Suzumi replied. " It does feel nice, moments like these. Feels a bit like a date, don't you think?"

Hiroshi wasn't sure whether having a girl he liked leaning next to him while they sat under a tree, on an important mission where the fate of a lot of things in Konoha might just hang in the balance, and on the lookout for people who might be after their heads, could really count as something close as a date, but he humoured her nonetheless.

" Yeah, I guess..." Hiroshi replied, turning red slightly. " Although I could hardly count having interlopers as being really nice for a date..."

Someone dropped from above them, landing right in front of them. Suzumi gave a gasp of surprise, but Hiroshi expected Sora to pull this sort of thing somehow sooner or later, so he wasn't really surprised.

" Sup, lovebirds?" Sora asked, grinning.

" You sure know how to kill the mood," Hiroshi sighed.

Sora shot him a dirty look, before turning to Suzumi. " Hey, you think Makoto's alright? I know all that talk about him and his friend Hachi, so I was wondering...what's his state of mind? He's a hard nut to crack, I'd give you that...I'm not sure how he's viewing this mission now," Sora replied.

" Well...he'll do fine, I promise..." Suzumi replied.

" Really?" Sora asked.

" He's just not going to like the end result, but I'm sure he doesn't want you to worry about it too much, Sora. Makoto knows what is his duty, above all things. If it comes do to taking down his old friends, then so be it," Suzumi replied. " I guess I feel sorry for him, being placed in such a situation. Guess it is a small world after all, huh?"

" What's with the questions?" Hiroshi asked. " It's not like you actually worried about him, are you?"

" Ah, shut it, Hiroshi. None of your business," Sora replied. " It's just that I never knew Makoto had such a deep kind of character, you know? It's kinda strange to see him somewhat...vulverable. I'm not sure if that's something I should be happy about, or worried, or both."

" ...Are you on crack? You seem to be thinking too much," Hiroshi replied.

" Silence! What's with this cheeky attitude of yours?!" Sora rebutted, reaching over and pinching Hiroshi on both his cheeks, hard. Hiroshi waved his hands helplessly as Sora toyed with him, while Suzumi merely laughed at the sight.

-

" Hey, are you alright?" Tayu asked. Makoto looked up, noticing Tayu approach him and lean on a tree opposite of him. " I know this might be a bit harsh on you, since you know these people personally, so I was wondering how are you holding up?"

Makoto didn't answer straight away. Tayu wondered if Makoto was trying to think of something to say to her somehow. " ...If you are worried about me not..." he started.

" This has nothing to do with protecting Lady Kaguya or not. I'm just asking out of concern for you," Tayu rebutted quickly. " You always look cool and collected, but I don't know about that. You seem to like to hide your features and feelings, or at least that's what my instinct tells me. Being blind sort of helps, I guess, in that department."

" Oh? And if I can hide my features so well, what makes you think I am disturbed?" Makoto asked, grinning.

" ...You haven't given us a single, honest smile since then," Tayu answered.

Makoto broke his grin almost instantly, as if Tayu's words managed to shatter his grin to pieces. Makoto merely scratched his head anf folded his arms. " ...Well, if you can tell that much, you should already know," Makoto answered, in a slightly melancholic manner.

" ...I'm sorry..."

" Why apologise? It's not your fault. This is just merely irony playing its hand. Irony is always abound in our life, and it will hit us now or later. I will have to just come to terms with the hands fate have played, and just carry along," Makoto replied. " ...Yes, I am depressed, in a way, but nothing to get your panties up in a bunch."

Tayu merely smiled at the joke. " Guess I shouldn't worry too much then," Tayu replied.

" ...Thanks for asking anyway. I appreciate it," Makoto replied.

" Nothing to it. Always ready to help a comrade in need," Tayu replied.

" Comrade, huh?" Makoto mused.

" After all, it's you who are doing a favour for us, on the Leafs behalf. I should be appreciative that you Sand-nins manage to come this far," Tayu replied. " Life is one big mess, huh?"

" I concur..."

"...So, do you mind if I ask a question?" Tayu asked.

" From the sound of it, you seem hesitant on disturbing me further, so I'm going to venture that this question has something to do with my 'former' acquaintance, Hachi," Makoto replied. " Yes, why not? I'll humour you."

" You sure are very perceptive for a blind guy," Tayu replied.

" I get that a lot," Makoto replied. " Incidentally, I'm single."

" ...My compliment wasn't supposed to carry that far..."

" My apologies. Surely, you know I was just pulling your leg," Makoto replied. " So, what's the question?"

" ...Why did Hachi leave in the first place?"

-

" Well, I'm not 100 percent sure about this fact, but apparently Hachi had this significant other named Aya. She's this pretty girl I know, very skilled in the shinobi arts, and not to mention athletic to boot. I've seen her a couple of times in the administration offices, but I never really got to know her well. Apparently, she had been dating Hachi for a while now," Suzumi replied.

" Wait! Let me just fill in the blanks!" Sora replied, stopping Suzumi, before continuing with a voice full of dramatic flair. " Somehow, she was given this important mission for the Sand, in which she had been entrusted. However, something went wrong, and enemies ambushed their convoy, and they fell under attack. Due to the need of keeping secrets and mission details, the Sand authorities decided that Aya had to serve as someone who could be disposable for the sake of the mission, and disallowed anyone, especially, Hachi, from rescuing her. Thus, this made him grow a certain hatred for the Sand leadership and bureaucracy, making him leave the village."

Suzumi looked at Sora awkwardly, wincing slightly as she spoke. " Urm, close, but not quite. You were correct up to the part where she received an important mission, and was ambushed, but it is a bit different. See, the Sand managed to get intel that Aya's convoy had been attacked. She managed to relay some messages back to tell them on the situation, but the situation was dire. However, the Kazekage felt that it was imperative to send a rescue team, and was about to send one to take her out of enemy territory. However, during her last transmission back to the outpost, she said that the situation was hopeless, and a rescue would only waste valuable shinobi life. Finally, in order to keep her secret of the mission from the enemy, she...well, terminated herself..."

Hiroshi gulped slightly at the story, while Sora looked with utter fascination. Whoever this Aya girl was, she had a lot of caliber, guts, and loyalty. She actually willingly sacrificed herself to just avoid a chance of letting village secrets fall into the enemy hands. Hiroshi had a hard time imagining himself doing such a thing. Sora might, since she was partially suicidal. Ryouta would most definitely do so, if the need arises. After all, his loyalty towards the Leaf village was unquestionable.

" That's...so sad..." Sora replied. " But, then...Aya did something noble, a sacrifice to her village? Why would Hachi leave because of that?"

" Unfortunately, for Hachi, Aya was the only reason why he became a shinobi in the first place," Suzumi answered. " With Aya gone, Hachi didn't really have the spirit to continue, and also, he partially blamed the leaders for this accident. After all, it was due to her loyalty towards 'them' that she decided to sacrifice herself. He...just never got over it, I guess."

" I'm curious. Makoto mentioned that it was his fault that Hachi left, that he didn't tell the administrators that Hachi was leaving. I've been wondering why?" Sora asked.

" ...Urm..." Suzumi looked around awkwardly. " You do know that with Makoto's listening ability, he's probably listening to this conversation, right?"

Hiroshi never thought of that. He knew Makoto's hearing, thus his sight, encompassed a large area, but it never occurred to him that he might just eavesdrop on people. Maybe it just didn't suit his character, but Hiroshi would never know.

" ...Well, see, Makoto..." Suzumi muttered, whispering as softly as she could, although honestly, Makoto could even hear her whether she was whispering or not. " ...he liked this Aya as well..."

" WHA...!!!"

Hiroshi and Suzumi immediately leaped forward, slamming their hands on Sora's mouth in an effort to silence her. The rest of them heard her regardless, and turned to look at the three of them curiously.

" Sora, you do know we aren't out of danger yet, so could you kindly refrain from shouting?" Ryouta asked in a slightly tired manner. Sora tried to answer, but Suzumi's and Hiroshi's hands were still clasped on tight on her mouth, so she merely nodded.

"...Yes, Makoto...well, I guess I can use this word, fancied Aya, or at least he was quite smitten with her," Suzumi replied. " According to Hibiki, I guess since they both loved the same girl, he couldn't bring himself up to take down the man she loved. Perhaps Makoto thought he was doing Aya's memory a favour by allowing Hachi to leave the village quietly."

Sora and Hiroshi exchanged glances. Obviously, this looked like some very complicated issue involved.

" Regardless, Makoto won't back down. This time, he's fighting for us. When it comes to Hachi, he won't hesitate," Suzumi replied.

" Easy for you to say, I'm the one fighting him," Hiroshi replied, only to later realise that his sentence sounded very harsh, and condescending. " Erm, I mean, you know...Makoto said I was the only one..."

" Time's up, fellas," Ryouta said, standing up from where he was sitting, snapping his finger twice. " Let's go."

-

Once more, they were moving off towards the east again, with Ryouta leading the way, and Makoto taking up the rear. The general speed this time was a tad bit slower than the last trip, since a number of them had been hurt fairly recently. However, Hiroshi didn't find any difficulty in traveling, and his stomach wound felt fine. It was a sort of testament to how skilled Suzumi really was at her medical jutsus. If it wasn't for her, this group would have incurred severe losses. Hiroshi really had to be grateful for that.

" What? You seem to be looking at me oddly," Suzumi replied as she traveled across to the next branch effortlessly, keeping up with Hiroshi and staying by his side. " Something on your mind, Hiroshi?"

" Well, I was just thinking that I'm moving perfectly, after you fixed my injuries so well. I guess I'm just very grateful for that, you know, considering I could have died out there," Hiroshi replied.

Suuzmi smiled back, blushing slightly. " I...was just doing what was expected, you know," Suzumi replied. " You are my boyfriend, after all. It should only be natural that I treat you with utmost care."

"...Boyfriend? We haven't gone out on a date yet, but you...consider me as someone special?" Hiroshi asked.

" Silly boy. Are you trying to be modest, or just not trying to act silly in front of me? You should know that doesn't matter, Hiroshi. You are the one who always tells me to act bold, yet here you are being a bashful kid," Suzumi replied. " It's not like we are going to sleep together anytime soon, so why do you worry so much?"

" Huh...oh wait, yeah, I guess I thought you that," Hiroshi chuckled. " So, how's Hibiki? Bet he's easy to tease, huh?"

" Hey, you just reminded me of something, Hiroshi!" Hibiki exclaimed suddenly from the front. " Remind me to get back at you for 2 years worth of jokes from Suzumi at my expense!"

" What? I thought with your sexist and chauvinistic tastes, you would actually appreciate them," Hiroshi laughed. Tayu and Kira looked at each other, before looking at Lady Kaguya as well, wondering what was up with the sudden exclamation. They later put it up as some inside joke they somehow shared.

Hiroshi looked to his right when he heard a tap, only to see Makoto had somehow kept up his pace with him. From the looks on his face, either there was something wrong, or Makoto wanted to have a serious discussion with him.

" Urm...are you worried, Hiroshi?" Makoto asked.

Hiroshi wasn't exactly sure where this question was coming from, or what it was relating to. " ...Worried about what?" Hiroshi asked.

" Are you just very naïve, or are you just being nice to me?...You know what, scratch that, it's probably both," Makoto replied. Hiroshi didn't reply, and Suzumi merely looked at her comrade-in-arms curiously. " ...I wasn't lying when I said that you are the only one here capable of handling Hachi. I'm...not being a coward or anything by trying to avoid a confrontation with him, you know. I guess it might sound a bit harsh, pitting you against someone of his caliber..."

" No, I'm not angry at you, nor worried, to say the least," Hiroshi answered.

" Hiroshi?" Makoto mused.

" Look, I know it's hard to fight someone who is this close to you, especially Hachi, but I know you well, Makoto, enough to know a bit of your habits. You aren't such a coward to push away a fight with your friend onto me just like that. If you say you cannot fight him, I believe you, Makoto, from the very bottom of my heart. If I am the only one capable of dealing with Hachi, then so be it. I'll be the one to take him down when the time comes, you can count on me," Hiroshi replied. " After all, it is hard to kill someone you once knew so well, so I shall spill his blood in your place, so you don't have to feel the guilt of having to do it."

Makoto seemed lost for words. " ...Thank you..." was the only reply he could muster.

" You are under a lot of stress, but don't worry about it," Hiroshi replied. " After all, what are friends for? Since you've stuck with us until now, this is the least I can do."

For the first time in his life since knowing Makoto, Hiroshi saw his Sand companion give him a warm smile, a smile of relief.

" Another break is in order," Ryouta replied, halting the troop in front of a small stream. " We'll rest here. The stream will have to provide us our refreshments for now. After another five minute, we will depart."

Everyone got down from the tree branches and headed towards the stream, Sora and Hibiki reaching there the first and dunking their heads into the streams, gulping large amounts of water in the process. Lady Kaguya helped herself as well. Only Makoto didn't bother drinking.

Once everyone had drank their fill, they sat along the bank under the shade of the local trees. Nobody said a word for a while, and Hiroshi had to admit the silence was a bit awkward. There was nothing really of importance to talk about, but nobody really picked it up.

" Urm..."

Everyone turned to Lady Kaguya, who had the gall to say something.

" The six of you, you know each other well, right?" Lady Kaguya asked.

" Urm...yeah?" Ryouta replied, uncertain where this line of questioning was headed.

" I was just wondering, out of mere curiosity, who among all six of you is the best, I mean, combat-wise?" Lady Kaguya asked.

The Leaf and Sand chuunins merely looked at her in utter surprise, not sure what could have made her bring this up all of a sudden. Lady Kaguya looked embarrassed, but still curious enough to know more.

" Urm...what brought this up?" Ryouta asked.

" Just curious," Lady Kaguya replied with a childish demeanor.

" Hah, allow me to tell you the truth," Sora replied excitedly, standing up all of a sudden, her hands akimbo. " We are indeed, all skilled shinobi, but if we go into the finer details, the most skilled one amongst all of us is none other than..."

" ...not you," Hibiki interrupted.

" Hey, prick. I didn't even say it was me!" Sora exclaimed.

" Oh, this is interesting, once you aren't boasting about yourself," Hibiki replied, leaning forward. " Pray tell me, who amongst us six do you think is the best in terms of combat?"

" You, moron," Sora replied, as if stating the obvious.

Hibiki seemed a little perplexed, mainly due to the fact that Sora actually said he was the best amongst all of them. " Hey, you didn't damage your head recently, right, or are you some bunshin or sorts? Or is my ears failing me? Did you just say 'me'?" Hibiki asked.

" What? Got a problem with that?" Sora asked.

" ...You hate my guts. Why the heck would you say I'm better than you?" Hibiki asked.

" The fact that I dislike you has nothing to do with me giving a fair judgment. After all, I'm never biased," Sora replied. " Ryouta comes in close next to you, but his elemental jutsus lack...what's the word to use...an edge, which you seem to only possess. If we had to give a general score, Ryouta would win, but combat-wise, I believe even you can edge him out."

" You lie. Ryouta knows how to use all the elements, and all nature manipulation. With that alone, he can easily strike me down in no time," Hibiki argued.

" You cut yourself short, Hibiki. You can't deny your flexibility and augmented fighting senses and prowess. I agree with Sora, you are better than me, and Makoto even agrees with this," Ryouta replied.

" I don't think so, I believe you are better, Ryouta," Hiroshi objected.

" Nah, that's only your imagination," Ryouta countered.

" Of course, second in line would be none other than our leader, Ryouta. Makoto would come in third, and next, me," Sora replied.

Hiroshi found this very strange. Not only did Sora nominate Hibiki first, she even placed herself fourth. Apparently, she was not being biased in this judgment.

" Let me guess: fifth is Suzumi, and last would be me, right?" Hiroshi asked.

" Bingo!" Sora replied, winking at him.

" That's so not true. Hiroshi beat me in the Chuunin exams, remember?" Suzumi replied.

" Fluke match!" Sora exclaimed.

" Seconded," Hibiki replied.

" Vote! Who thinks Suzumi is better than Ryouta?" Sora exclaimed, her hand shooting up at once. All of them followed suite, even Kira, Tayu and Kaguya, who was apparently giggling at the on-goings, except Suzumi. " Majority vote! It is unanimously decided!"

" Oh, don't worry about them. They are just putting you down. You know you are better than me, right?" Suzumi toled Hiroshi, trying to console him.

" Oh, don't bother....I don't think I can argue with that," Hiroshi replied, laughing.

_Writer's note: Sorry for the very sporadic updates. Things came up, you know...heh._

_Anyway, it took me a while, but thanks to ijpowers comment, I realised that I've been using the same name for 2 different characters, so I reeddited the last 5 chapters. Maya is now known as Yui. Sorry to the confusion.  
_


	15. Chapter 14: Second Encounter

**Chapter 14: Second Encounter**

" Hey, sleepyhead, wake up," a voice called out to him. Hiroshi woke up and rubbed his eyes sleepily. Ryouta had issued them a nap, since they had been traveling for a while and he was recouperating from his wounds. Giving a loud sigh, he sat straight up and rubbed his eyes even more.

" Is it time to go yet, Suzumi?" Hiroshi mused groggily to himself.

His reply can as a sharp kick to his side, which made him wince slightly in pain, but still it was an excellent way to wake him up, because he felt wide awake right now. Furthermore, being kicked also told him that the one waking him up was no Suzumi.

" Geez, it's me, not your lovely Suzumi," Sora scowled in an irritated way. Hiroshi wondered what was up with her, but realised that she's always been like this regardless. He got to his feet and brushed off the dirt off his attire, collected from the dirty forest floor. " Are you awake, or are you still dremaing?"

" Sora, what's your problem?" Hiroshi asked.

" Nothing much," Sora replied, walking away. Hiroshi sighed at her attitude and merely followed her. The rest of them at the campsite at already gotten ready and were ready to leave. Suzumi came up and patted him on his cheeks to check if he was awake, and he tried to wave her away, muttering that he's fine.

" ...You know, I just remembered something..." Ryouta suddenly replied.

" What?" Hibiki asked.

" The other time when you said you couldn't sense those guys. You said you had an explanation for it," Ryouta replied. " Care to enlighten us about it?"

Hiroshi figured Ryouta would be bring this up sooner of later. Makoto merely sighed and shrugged his shoulders. " Well, you see, my listening ability allows me to listen to ranges over a kilometer, to be able to pick up sounds at such distances. However, there is one main flaw in that," he replied.

" Flaw?" Hiroshi asked.

" Hiroshi, if I asked you to look into the distance, your field of vision would be limited to a certain distance. Same to my hearing ability. There is a certain distance I can listen to, and the further I go, the less accurate that noise I listen to can be. Thus, although I can tell you right now in detail what you are wearing, I cannot do that over several hundred meters away," Makoto replied. " However there is a distinguishing fact that allows me to track other shinobi at that distance. And that would be their rate of movement."

" Say again?" Sora replied, folding her arms.

" Movement. Shinobis move way much faster than normal people can, so if Makoto can hear people moving at such high speeds so far away, he can obviously deduce that that person, or people, are shinobi," Suzumi explained.

" One way to avoid my tracking ability would be to stay absolutely still. If you don't move, then I cannot hear you. Assuming because these guys know my ability, I guess that's how they managed to ambush us," Makoto replied.

" That's quite a handy ability to have," Lady Kaguya commented.

" It is," Makoto replied, before turning to Ryouta. " But apparently you still seemed distressed."

Hiroshi looked at Ryouta, who had this look of worry on his face. " Indeed, but this still doesn't quite make sense. Regardless of how they countered your hearing ability, could you explain how they managed to get in front of us, and not to mention ambush us precisely," Ryouta replied. " If you all didn't realise by now, I change the direction of our course every couple of kilometers or so. This would not explain how they could get in front of us and ambush us, because this would mean that they knew where exactly we were heading."

Hiroshi never actually thought this through, but it did make sense. How in the world did they get in front of them, and knew exactly where they would be heading? It sounded very worrying somehow.

" You...think they are tracking us somehow?" Suzumi asked, sounding a little frightened.

" ...There is a possibility," Ryouta replied. " Worrying about it isn't going to help us much, so we may as well move on. Leave the worrying up to me for now, alright?"

-

The group moved in silence now after Ryouta gave the suggestion that they may be tracked. Hiroshi wasn't sure how was it possible for them to be be tracked, unless they had managed to bug them somehow or someone here was selling all of them out. Ryouta didn't even bother with a body search, hinting that there was no way anyone had a tracing device or a bug on them, and the thought of one of them selling the rest out was just pure impossible.

All of them were moving through a forest area now, following a nearby river. They had just passed a village on the way, having rested to recover their strength for a while. It had been some time since Hiroshi had been engaged in a mission testing his constitution like this. It was indeed tiring to travel constantly without proper breaks over long periods of time. He didn't want to complain about it. The security of his nation was dependent on whether he could carry himself the extra mile.

Ryouta halted them once again, and they all came to a stop. It was apparently time for another break. All of them leaped off the tree branches, most of them heading towards the nearby river to wash themselves and take a sip of cool, crisp water to freshen themselves up. Sora, as per usual, went first, splashing water all over the place.

" You could do this in a more feminine manner, you know...hey, cut it out, you idiot!" Hibiki remarked, only to let Sora rebuke him by splashing water at his face. " I'd like to stay dry when I travel."

" Sora, stop playing around," Ryouta replied.

" Hey, he started it," Sora replied, pointing a finger accusingly towards Hibiki.

" Did not!" Hibiki replied.

" Oh yes, you did!" Sora argued.

" Keep it down, both of you," Hiroshi replied. " The way you two argue, it sounds like the two of you are married or something."

Both of them rounded on Hiroshi this time, their faces contorted in fury. " Oh, hell no!" they both exclaimed at once.

" I think I just hit a nerve. I'll hold you two on your words, okay?" Hiroshi replied.

" Shut up for a sec!" Makoto exclaimed loudly.

All of them spun around, seeing Makoto tense up, his eyebrows knitted in a bunch. Nobody said anything for a while, as Makoto seemed to be concentrating hard on something. A bead of sweat trickled down Hiroshi's forehead as he patiently waited.

" Tch, bad news, I think someone is on our trail," Makoto replied.

Ryouta immediately shot to his feet, ready for action. " How many, and in which direction?" Ryouta replied.

" Three teams of four. One coming from the northeast direction, while another is coming through the southeast side, while the final one is coming straight from where we came from," Makoto answered.

" Wait just a second, that means they overtook us. How the hell are they zoning in on our position?" Tayu exclaimed. Lady Kaguya looked at all of them, her face having a slight look of worry.

" That's what I suggested earlier, that they were tracking us somehow," Ryouta replied. " We don't have time to worry about that. If they are zoning in such a fashion, that means they know our position. Right now, we need to position ourselves to intercept. Makoto, how long before they reach us?"

" 2 minutes if we move now, roughly give and take," Makoto answered. " Were are we going to go anyway?"

" Somewhere away from this stream. I don't want to give the Mist-nins any advantage if they have them in their ranks," Ryouta replied.

" The old outpost station," Sora exclaimed.

" What?" Hiroshi asked.

" Ryouta, there is an old, abandoned outpost station nearby, if my sense of direction is still working. If we can get there, we can sort of form up some defenses while we take them on," Sora replied, urgently.

" Better than nothing, lead the way!" Ryouta replied.

" Hey, I said it was around the area. I don't know specifically where," Sora replied.

" Don't worry, I know where it is," Makoto replied. Apparently, he managed to use his sonar technique to pick up the location of the old outpost. " Follow me everyone!"

All of them immediately followed Makoto as he took off at top speed. They didn't have to move far apparently. Several hundred meters away, they stumbled upon what looked like stone ruins. Hiroshi could hardly even remember the outpost here even existed. Much of it was in a disarray, broken down buildings and pieces of wood strewn all over the place. It was obvious nobody touched this place in a very long time.

" How much time left before they arrive?" Ryouta asked calmly.

" About a minute, give or take," Makoto answered.

" Makoto, Suzumi, surrounded Lady Kaguya. The rest of you, guard her at all sides," Ryouta replied. All of them moved into place, with Lady Kaguya in the middle of the human circle formed by them as they placed their backs towards her. Hiroshi didn't expect much. After all, there was not much that Ryouta could possibly come up within the next one minute. He unsealed his puppet scroll, taking them out. He had his usual Hebi with him, along with a new one which looked like a scorpion covered in sharp razors.

Their opponents arrived in less than a minute, as just as Makoto said, three teams of four. All of them stopped just at the edge of the forest were the ruined buildings of the outpost ended, as if pausing to contemplate their prey. Hiroshi looked around a little frantically, feeling as if they were like cornered rats. They were quite out-numbered, and if Ryouta had a plan to deal with this, he better do it fast.

" So, I guess you must be the puppeteer, huh?" a voice called out to them.

Hiroshi figured he was being address personally, so he turned and look at whoever that was speaking to him. He looked like the leader of this group, and he was about Hiroshi's age, possibly a year older or two older than he was. He wore a patch over his left eye, and his hair was all spiky. He wore the typical Sand-nin garments, and his forehead protector was proudly displayed on his forehead, strange for a missing-nin. From the looks of displeasure on Makoto's face, Hiroshi figured that this person must be Hachi.

" Obvious from the remains of whatever we managed to pick up of Yui, a puppeteer was involved, but as far as my memory could recall, I don't remember Makoto's team ever having a puppeteer. Guess it comes to no surprise we find a Leaf puppeteer," Hachi replied. " It's been a long time, hasn't it, Makoto? It's unfortunate that we have to meet under such circumstances."

" Yeah...it is," Makoto answered. Hiroshi could clearly sense the displeasure in his tone.

Hibiki took a good look around. Apparently this time besides Hachi, he could not see any other familiar faces. None of the Sand-nins were here, nor the Leafs, only Hachi was the only recognisable face. It felt as if he had come personally to deal with this.

" I'll keep it short and sweet. Hand over Lady Kaguya, Makoto, and I'll let you all walk away from here free. I only give you one chance at this," Hachi replied. Makoto merely kept quiet, not replying to Hachi's offer. Hiroshi wondered what was going through his head right now. " Surely, you don't expect to come out of this unharmed, do you?"

" ...The hell are you asking me for? I'm not the leader of this team," Makoto shot back.

" That's right, I'm the leader, and our first priority for handing Lady Kaguya over to you is over our dead body. You want her, then come and get her," Ryouta replied.

" Urm, Ryouta, this might not be my place to say this, but isn't it a bad idea to provoke them too much?" Suzumi asked.

Hiroshi wondered about that. Ryouta wasn't one to stupidly do things without a reason. So far, through the years of sticking through with him, Hiroshi knew that the last thing Ryouta ever did was to do something without thinking it through. If he was purposely provoking Hachi, he had a good reason to do so.

" Fine, I did say only one chance," Hachi replied coldly, snapping his fingers. All of a sudden, all of them rushed towards their position, zoning in towards all of them as they were gathered in the middle.

Ryouta's hands went in a flurry of hand seals, his hands moving so fast no one could even pick up what seal he was using. Without wasting time, he slammed his hand onto the ground, and all of a sudden, the earth around them started to explode all of a sudden. Pieces of stone and concrete flew all over the place, Ryouta calculating the blast to not allow any of the flying debris hit his comrades. Their enemies staggered back a little as Ryouta dealt a decisive blow to their numbers, rendering four of them unable to continue the fight.

" Ryouta...you..." Hiroshi gasped.

It wasn't without it's drawbacks though. Ryouta had executed the jutsu without molding his chakra properly, more like Sora blasting chakra out of the palm of her hands recklessly, but this time it was for an elemental jutsu, not to mention a jutsu of such a magnitude. Thus, the rebound on his hands was quite severe. The chakra lines tore through his muscle and skin on his hands, causing him to bleed profoundly.

" We need to fix that!" Suzumi replied.

" No time for that," Ryouta replied, as Suzumi suddenly felt an strange aura overcome Ryouta. All of a sudden, the bleeding in his arms stop. Suzumi's eyes widened in shock, wondering what jutsu did he manage to pull off. However, she did notice something odd about the jutsu he used.

" Ryouta, are you nuts?! Using that jutsu like that?!" Hiroshi exclaimed.

" If you want to lecture me later, feel free, but I need to garner every damn advantage we can get now," Ryouta replied, popping a soldier pill into his mouth and chewing on it. He did his signature fire technique, Fire Release: Immortal Phoenix Technique. His hands were suddenly surrounded in a blaze of flame, powerful and all-hungry, ready to consume. " Counter-attack now!" he howled.

He flew towards the two closest shinobi within his path. They both tried to back off, and Ryouta retaliated by blowing a jet of fire in their direction, without the need for hand seals and more powerful than a regular fire attack. The rest of them split off to engage the enemy, Hibiki and Kira immediately going for the kill by targeting weaker shinobi. Reminded of Makoto's words, Hiroshi immediately slipped in front of Hachi just as he was about to advance, his puppet flanking him by the sides.

" Hah, I bet Makoto told you some bull like puppeteers can only match puppeteers," Hachi replied, chuckling. " You know what I think? I think that man is just too afraid to face his past."

" Shut up! You don't know Makoto! Don't you dare speak to him in that fashion!" Hiroshi yelled back.

" Bah, I think I've known Makoto longer than you have, kid," Hachi replied. " Now, you are a puppeteer as well, right? Well then, I do pray that you do not disappoint me."

Hachi suddenly flung his hands out at him. Expecting an attack, Hiroshi moved his puppets in front of him to form a shield. Nothing came, or at least that was what Hiroshi thought. Looking carefully, he noticed Hachi had attached puppet strings to his puppet. _...What is he doing?_ Hiroshi thought.

" Didn't you find it strange, nameless Leaf puppeteer, that as a puppeteer, I haven't brought out my puppets?" Hachi asked.

Hiroshi's eyes widened in fear as both his puppets turned their heads rounding upon him, as if glaring back at him. His Hebi lashed out all of a sudden, the head shooting forward, its jaw wide open, ready to devour its own creator Hiroshi.

Hiroshi immediately detached the chakra strings on his puppets and leaped back as far as he could, skidding along the way. Unfortunately he didn't escape unharmed, as he had a long gash on his shoulder where his Hebi had just sung its fangs into. Hiroshi panted as he felt his blood seep out form his wound, dripping on the floor. He could merely look up at Hachi, who was now controlling his puppets, moving them as if he was testing them out.

" A puppet is controlled by passing chakra into it, and using precise chakra control, control a tool. Puppeteers of equal skill can give pause to their opponents puppets by attaching their strings onto their puppets. Puppeteers of superior skill can steal puppets from their opponents," Hachi replied. " Guess there really was no need for me to bring my own tools, after all when I can steal them from you. Now, despair, for it will be your weakness that caused this unfortunate incident."

With that, Hachi lunged at him with Hiroshi's own puppets, preparing to strike the killing blow. Ironic, to be defeated by the very weapons he created.

-

Ryouta gritted his teeth as he tried to will the pain away. His injuries to his arm had only be shortly avoided, but the pain still lingered, and it was affecting his fighting capabilities a bit. He staggered backwards, obviously in pain. Still, Ryouta refused to fall back, even having the gall to take on two opponents at once.

Everyone was furiously fighting, kunais and senbon needles flying all over the place, jutsus being exchanged followed by repeated blows. Lady Kaguya looked around in slight fear, seeing all of them attempting to kill one another for her sake. Young men and women engaged in a furious fight for their survival, and their country's stakes and honour.

Hibiki tossed his spear aside, and leaped at his target. He took the kunoichi he was up against by surprise as he suddenly grabbed her kunai, stopping it in its tracks with the cost of cutting his hands. He didn't seem to mind, and merely held on tight. His other hand shot out to grab her free hand, and he head butted her hard on the forehead, making both their foreheads bleed from the impact of the strike.

" Kira, now!" Hibiki yelled, slightly disoriented from the strike.

Kira didn't waste the perfect opportunity Hibiki had presented him with. Keeping her in place and disorientating her left her vulnerable, a perfect victim for Kira's fangs. Hibiki didn't manage to catch his movements, but the kunoichi's eyes widened in surprise as two long, deep gashes appeared on her chest as Kira tore through it with his custom daggers with utmost ease and speed. Kira appeared into view next to Hibiki after the deed was done, blood of his enemy dripping from its blades.

" Amazing, I didn't even see you move," Hibiki replied, dropping the unfortunate female shinobi to the ground, picking up his spear quickly as he did so. " Right, next target..."

Kira didn't reply, but merely nod his head, before zipping of into another direction, his daggers gleaming, ready for another kill. Hibiki looked around, and immediately ran towards Tayu's direction, who seemed to be having some difficulty with her own opponent.

" Gah!" Tayu exclaimed as her opponent managed to cut her arm.

" Heads up, punk!" Hibiki exclaimed, thrusting his spear at him. The shinobi avoided the attack by tilting his head aside to avoid getting struck squarely in his face, before hopping back to gain some breathing space.

" Thanks..." Tayu exclaimed, flicking out a weapon scroll, running her blood on it. She flung the scroll up high as a multitude of senbon needles were unsealed. Clapping her hands together, she fired the senbon needles upon the enemies around her, raining senbon needles all over the place. Her opponent managed to back up to avoid being hit, but Tayu brought out another scroll, ready to unleash another rain of steel, and she still had more of them.

Hibiki was slightly distracted when he suddenly heard a familiar cry of pain. Looking around, he saw Ryouta being kicked back, crashing onto the ground. One of the shinobis leaped at him, kunai in hand, ready to strike him down while he had the chance. Suzumi stepped in-between him and his opponent, using a senbon needle to counter his strike. The shinobi swiped his hand at her. Suzumi quickly ducked, and spat a poison needle at his feet. The guy howled in pain and rage, before giving Suzumi an uppercut, knocking her backwards.

" Oh, no you don't!" Sora exclaimed, popping out of nowhere, throwing a wild punch towards the person who had hit Suzumi, breaking his jaw with a single punch on his face. The man was sent flying from the powerful hit, crashing into a nearby tree. " Geez, are you alright? Ryouta asked you to stay by Lady Kaguya's side!"

" But I had to help Ryouta..." Suzumi pleaded.

" Ryouta, you are being weak. Stop this shit and get your ass in gear!" Sora yelled at him.

" You think I'm not aware of this?!" Ryouta shot back.

" You're hurt, ass, that's why!" Sora replied, bracing for her next opponent. " Suzumi, fix him up quick, so he can stop being a pain in the ass and get back into the fight!"

" Alright, I'll...Ah!"

Sora and Ryouta turned their heads in alarm as Suzumi cried out loudly in pain. One of the assailants managed to strike her from behind, stabbing a senbon needle into her back. Ryouta shot to his feet in rage, before slamming his still flaming hand onto the person. The intense flame immolated him within seconds, leaving only his charred remains behind.

" Suzumi, shit! You're hurt bad!" Sora exclaimed, skidding next to her friend.

Suzumi was wincing in pain. Struggling slightly, she reached behind her back and pulled out the kunai with some difficulty. She was bleeding, but it wasn't serious, and she somehow managed to avoid getting hit on any of her vital parts. " It's alright," she replied bravely. " I can still fight..."

Suzumi was suddenly surprised when Sora stopped her in mid-sentence by shoving her aside. Sora shot to her feet, her hands grabbing hold of two fists that came in out of nowhere, aimed for her face. Sora's face was contorted in anger and fury as she saw her opponent.

" You!" she snarled, spit flying from her mouth.

" Me!" Akane replied gleefully.

Suzumi and Ryouta looked up, seeing seven other shinobis on the branches high above her. Apparrently, their enemy reinforcements had arrived. Ryouta could merely grit his teeth at the sight of these people. Things were rapidly getting from bad to worse.


	16. Chapter 15: Retaliation

**Chapter 15: Retaliation**

Sora broke free from Akane's grasp, skidded back a few feet, before raising her right fist over her head. Screaming a war cry, she shot towards Akane at top speed, as fast as he legs could throw her towards her opponent. Ryouta and Suzumi winced slightly as there was a slight blast when they made contact, as if an explosion occurred, kicking up dirt and dust all over the place.

" What the heck does she think she is doing?! This is no time for a personal vendetta!" Ryouta exclaimed.

Enemy reinforcements started to swarm all around them. Ryouta forced himself to his feet and spewed forth a great breath of fire. His targets all leaped aside, avoiding the attack. All of a sudden, he felt a rush of wind blasts fly past him, Makoto trying to help him as well, before a rain of needles started to fall around the area.

Ryouta considered the situation. It looked quite grim. They were already having their hands full trying to deal with the remaining enemy members, but now all of a sudden, reinforcements have shown up. They were certainly not up to the task of dealing with this new enemy arrivals.

" ...Fuck..." Ryouta groaned.

-

Akane flicked out several senbon needles from her weapon pouch, before flinging them towards Sora. Sora swiftly dodged the attack, crouching low as she swept to the left and right, avoiding the needles as they came flying towards her. Akane leaned backwards to avoid a hit to the face as Sora's fist propelled itself to her face. The attack missed, and Akane did a flip.

Looking ahead of her, she saw that Sora had somehow managed to disappear from view. Her arm shot up as a leg came smashing towards her side, guarding her head just in time. Sora wasn't about to let up, sending another spinning kick towards her lower abdomen. Akane caught her foot with her hands, but Sora, flexing her body at odd angle, leaned forward and grabbed the lapels of Akane's shirt, before crashing her skull onto her forehead.

Both combatants fell to the ground, Akane suffering from a cut on her head, while Sora a little dizzy from hitting her opponent with her own forehead. Sora quickly got to her feet, only to see Akane missing from the spot where she fell. She looked around, although she seemed to be nowhere in sight. Akane had hidden herself within the surrounding buildings and trees. Only the sights and sounds of the on-going fight could be heard.

" Lovely, lovely, lovely!" Akane's voice exclaimed in excitement, although Sora could not pin-point where the echo was coming from. " This is so lovely. We get to fight once more. I must say I'm shaking in excitement. How about you? Say that you are!"

" Shaking? Not in fright?" Sora asked, trying to goad her opponent.

" Surely, fear is always apparent in a fight where two people pit their lives against one another. The trill of knowing you might die...simply lovely. I haven't had so much fun in a long time, Sora. You whet my appetite! I want to savour more of this fight!" Akane laughed, sounding slightly psychotic.

Sora spun around when one of the rogue shinobi leaped at her right from behind, her fists curled up tight, ready to break the guy's jaw. However, he was abruptly interrupted by someone leaping at him and grabbing him by the lapel, before crashing to the ground.

"...Just what the heck do you think you are doing?!" Sora exclaimed.

It was Akane who had interrupted Sora's attacker. She leaped out from her hiding spot to stop someone from fighting Sora. In fact, she had a livid expression, as if she was about to have a fit.

" What did I say earlier?! Nobody steals my prey!" Akane yelled.

" But we have to..."

Sora's eyes widened in shock as Akane suddenly lifted the poor fellow up, before flicking out a senbon needle from her weapon pack and sinking it into the base of his neck. There was a look of terror and shock on the person's face as blood started to spurt out from his wounds. " You could have just apologised and I'll let you off scot-free, but no...you had to come up with some lame excuse, huh? I said, nobody steals my prey, period, regardless of who the hell you are," Akane replied, licking her lips. " Bad boys must be punished..."

" ...You know what? I think you are nuts," Sora replied.

" Me? I thought that was a given?" Akane replied, smiling.

" ...A mad person admitting she is mad...would this still classify her as mad?" Sora sighed.

" I hate interruptions. You and me, we have got a score to settle. So, I just got rid of the distractions. Now, we fight!" Akane replied.

" Gladly!" Sora exclaimed, leaping at Akane once more.

-

" Down!" Hibiki yelled.

He leaped at Lady Kaguya, grabbing her roughly on the back, before forcing her to the ground. Lady Kaguya gave a cry of surprise as she was forced to the ground. Hibiki whipped his spear about, trying to make the shinobis attacking her back off. Makoto slipped back into his position, slamming his palm on one of the shinobis. He gave a cry of pain as his chest was torn by some invisible blade, courtesy of Makoto's wind blades.

" Hey, why do I have to take up on your slack?" Hibiki asked Makoto, before getting hit on the back of his head.

" Watch how you handle Lady Kaguya!" Tayu yelled at him.

" Why am I getting picked on?!" Hibiki growled angrily, the mounting frustration of the fight not helping matters. He shot off towards another direction, before noticing the fight between Hachi and Hiroshi. " What the hell?" he muttered.

Hiroshi was being repeatedly attacked by Hachi, using his own puppets. Hiroshi was leaping her and there, barely avoiding Hachi's attacks by just bare inches, almost getting killed on several occasions. It looked like a one-sided fight at any rate, with Hiroshi at a severe disadvantage.

" Damn it, Hiroshi's losing!" Hibiki shot back.

" What?" Makoto exclaimed, trying to fend off an attacker from coming any closer to Lady Kaguya. Slightly distracted, another ran up to his blind side, Tayu needing to come up to hold him back.

" I said Hiroshi is losing! Hachi stole his puppets! It's an obvious one-sided match!" Hibiki replied. " I'm going to help him!"

However, a kunoichi suddenly appeared right in front of him, a kunai suddenly being flung towards her face. Hibiki dodged the weapon quick enough, but the kunoichi was baring his path.

" Sorry, Hachi will deal with him. Come on, big guy, I'll play with you," she replied in a sly manner.

" Outta my way, I don't have time for the likes of you!" Hibiki shot back, thrusting his spear at her. However, the kunoichi merely slipped towards the side, before suddenly grabbing hold of his spear by the shaft, holding it tight, her grip so firm it even stopped him from advancing. Hibiki's eyes widened in surprise as he saw her stop him in his tracks using her mere strength alone. " What!?"

With surprising strength, she pushed him back, and Hibiki had to use all his strength to avoid being thrown backwards. He came to a stop a few feet back, his hands shaking painfully from the force he had to exert to reduce to push. Gasping, he looked up at her, this time taking a good look at his opponent.

She had dark red hair, tied in two ponytails that hung down her neck. She wore a mask over her face, so the only visible part of her face was her dark olive eyes. She wore a simple vest, short pants and fingerless gloves, no other accessories. Hibiki narrowed his eyes as he observed her apparel. She didn't seem to be keeping any shinobi tools, not even a single shuriken. Either she's really confident, or just plain stupid. He highly doubt it was the latter.

" What? Caught something interesting besides my feminine body?" she asked, possibly smirking under her mask.

" Bah, you don't interest me. Your breasts and bum ain't big enough for my taste," Hibiki said, raising his spear at her.

" You are probably wondering why I don't carry any shinobi weapons or tools," she replied, before showing two weapon holsters in her hands. " Why bring them when you can steal them?"

Hibiki suddenly looked down to his thighs. Both his weapon holsters were gone, taken off his leg. He looked back up at her in surprise, and slight hesitation. He didn't even realise they were gone, and he didn't even know when she took them off him. As far as he could remember, she didn't even lay a finger on him, but merely on his spear.

" Nice to meet you, Hibiki. You are just the person I want to kill today," she replied, her eyes going cold all of a sudden, before leaping at him, flicking out weapons from his weapon holster and flicking them towards Hibiki.

-

Sora wiped the blood that was seeping out from her bleeding cheek, a cut she sustained from getting nicked by one of Akane's senbon needles. Thankfully, there was no poison in this one, and it merely stung slightly.

Akane flung a couple of pellets towards Sora's direction. Sora leaped up high into the air just as the pellets burst into a cloud of poisonous looking green smoke, jumping higher than the smoke could reach her. Not missing a beat, Akane threw a whole slew of senbon needles towards Sora, this time they were obviously dripping with poison. Sora reached for her weapon pouch and flung shurikens to counter them, but still some managed to pass through her weapon barrage, nicking her by her sides.

All of a sudden, Sora's body went up in a puff of smoke, and in her place was a wooden stump. Akane grinned as Sora managed to pull a replacement technique under such short notice. All of a sudden, something whipped out from the side.

Sora's attack missed, and her fist hit the tree behind Akane as she jumped aside. There was a resounding bang, followed by the tree trunk exploding into multiple splinters. The tree trunk then fell down with a resounding crash. Sora made a disgruntled noise, seeing that she had somehow missed her target.

Akane whipped around Sora, but Sora managed catch the direction where Akane was going. She spun around and caught her blow just before it struck her on the head. Akane's free hand went in a flurry of blows, but Sora managed to keep up with her speed, parrying each strike. In fact, she did better, as she managed to slip a well-time hit by socking Akane hard in the gut, her fists making contact with her soft belly.

Akane gagged as she coughed out blood as Sora hit. She managed to strike an internal blow to her organs with her sound techniques. Sora then prepared another attack, throwing her punch at Akane's face. Blood came flying out from her mouth as Sora grinned as she heard a resounding crack, possibly due to her punch dislocating her jaw.

" Nice, but I'm not done yet!" Akane replied.

Sora gave a yell of pain when Akane suddenly stabbed a senbon needle on her hand, the weapon piercing both their palms, which were locked together. With a sudden surge of strength, she flipped Sora over, throwing her over her head, sending her crashing onto the ground. Sora continued to yell in pain as the senbon needle tore through her palm, making her bleed all over the place, before Akane yanked them free.

" Argh!...Bitch!" Sora spat, holding her hand in pain.

Akane leaped up high, ready to sink another senbon needle into her when she landed. Sora raised her hand again, taking the blow instead of her chest. Sora threw Akane off her, using her feet for extra leverage, kicking her off. Akane stumbled backwards, but regained her footing quickly just as Sora got to her feet.

Akane merely smiled as she flung several bottles in Sora's direction. Blasting chakra to her feet, Sora shot forward, avoiding the bottles as she shot past them. Akane brought her hand down hard on Sora, which she caught just in time. Sora barged right into her, using the momentum she had gained from breaking into a run, knocking her aside. Her hand shot up towards Akane's neck, grabbing hold onto her and keeping her grip on it as hard as a vice, crushing her windpipe.

Akane grabbed her hand, trying to pry her fingers off her neck, but Sora retaliated by throwing a quick punch at her, smack right in her face. Lifting her up by her neck, Sora brought her back down by slamming her down hard on the ground, sending cracks along the earth's surface. Akane coughed out more blood as Sora dealt a decisive blow.

" It ends here!" Sora replied.

Akane all of a sudden spat some of her blood on Sora's face, hitting her squarely on her eyes and nose. Groaning, she released her grip and staggered backwards. However, all of a sudden, she felt a caustic sensation rise in the base of her throat, just before blood spurted out of her nose, the caustic feeling turning to a painful burning sensation.

_What the hell?_ Sora thought.

It was almost unbelievable, but it had to be true. Akane had apparently laced her blood with poison, and when she spat at her, the poison affected her respiratory canals. There was a curious thought as to why Akane didn't seem affected the poison, and having an antidote already administered would neutralise the poison in her body anyway. She figured, by a long shot, the poison was activated by air, possibly by quick oxidisation upon exposure to air.

" Hahaha, I play to win, girl!" Akane exclaimed, quickly recovering, before spitting another batch of her blood-mixed spit towards Sora's face.

-

Ryouta staggered back, having suffered several cuts and burns from kunais and explosive notes. He managed to somehow take down two more shinobis, their charred bodies lying in front of him. He was getting slightly dizzy from all his injuries and massive chakra expenditure. His Immortal Phoenix Technique, despite being his ace skill, had a major drawback in being a chakra hog, consuming his chakra at astounding levels. Even though he had a rather large chakra reserve, he couldn't make the jutsu last forever. Taking multiple soldier pills was not a viable option, yet.

He staggered slightly, feeling a bit weak. In his slight moment of weakness, one of the shinobis tried to take advantage of that, and moved in stealthily from behind. Ryouta managed to notice his movements at the last minute, and leaped out of harm's way as his attacker fired jets of water from his mouth, almost hitting him. Scrambling to steady his feet, he ran towards his opponent.

Feeling confident he could deal with a fire-wielding shinobi, the enemy stood his ground, and fired a continuous jet of water towards Ryouta. Ryouta merely slammed his palm on the jet of water, and when the water came into contact with his flame, it burst into steam. Having blocked the attack somewhat, he took a deep breath and breathed out fire, condensed flame and superheated. The superheated flame burned white blue, and the tremendous heat merely swallowed up the jet of water the shinobi produced. The shinobi gave a wail as all his water evaporated, and the fire overtook him, burning his body until there was barely anything left to identify him as something that was once living.

Ryouta started coughing out blood. The after-effects of his previous jutsu he used to stop his bleeding, and the massive chakra consumption was taking its toll. Ryouta wasn't a medic-nin like Suzumi or Hiroshi, so he wasn't skilled in precise chakra control, and the jutsu he used earlier was dangerous for him to use personally.

It was a sort of water technique where he would mold his chakra on his wounds, causing his blood to coagulate quickly to seal up the wounds. This meant he could stop the bleeding quickly, but coagulation of this form was dangerous for his body, especially when some of the coagulated blood collects in his blood vessels, causing some organ damage. Hiroshi had always warned him of the side-effects and risk, and said only to use it when really necessary.

He felt someone grab his shoulder all of a sudden, throwing him back. He was about to retaliate when he saw several shurikens on the spot where he was standing moments ago. Looking to his side, he saw Kira crouched down next to him. If Kira had not stepped in to help, he might have been seriously wounded.

" Thanks..." Ryouta muttered. Kira didn't reply, but merely scanned the fighting field, looking for his next target.

" Ryouta, you are hurt bad," Suzumi replied.

" Nothing to it..." Ryouta replied, trying to get up.

" Here, take this," she said. Tossing him a small package, Ryouta caught it deftly, looking at the contents. It was a small medical kit, made easy to use. " Fix yourself. I'll buy you some time."

" You can't..."

" I'll accept no argument, Ryouta. Fix yourself, while I buy you some time. Besides, you've bought me some time to prepare my genjutsu. Let's put it to good use," Suzumi replied, clapping her hands together. One of the enemies leaped at her, striking at her body, but her body merely broke up into sand, falling onto the floor, disappearing without a trace.

All of a sudden, two senbon needles shot out of nowhere, hitting the shinobi on his neck, killing him in a instant. Ryouta couldn't even sense where the attack was coming from. Suzumi was weak as a combat fighter, but give her enough time to prepare her genjutsus and she becomes godly.

The other shinobis were slightly alarmed at Suzumi taking out their companion with such ease, and tried to figure out where she was. More senbon needles shot out of nowhere, hitting her targets in various places. No one seemed to be able to track her movements, and were getting struck left, right and center.

Ryouta decided not to waste the chance she gave him. He quickly opened the contents of the pack, taking out bandages and disinfectants from the insides.

-

Whoever this girl was, Hibiki was having serious trouble handling her. He staggered back slightly, sporting a wound on his stomach. He managed to avoid getting hit in a vital area when the girl stabbed him with a kunai, previously his own, but the bleeding was quite bad. He felt himself getting weaker and weaker by the second.

The blur of movement told him his opponent had made her move. She spun to the left, but the girl faked her movements, and changed her direction at the last minute. Hibiki yelled in pain as she kicked him hard on his wound, sending him rolling on the floor. Rolling up, he saw that she had managed to take his equipment pouch. The damn girl was sneaker than the regular thief.

" Weak...were you this weak when you fought her? I can't believe she lost to the likes of you," she replied scathingly.

Her words reminded him of something. A long shot, but he didn't really see any other options as to who she was referring to.

" Yeah, maybe. After all, I just jumped down from behind her and skewered that silly bitch from behind. Didn't even notice me do it, and it was done quick and easy," Hibiki said, getting up. The girl didn't respond, nor even twitch. Hibiki tried pushing her luck. " But I doubt it. After all, she already had her ass handed to her by my partner there anyway..."

She shot at him, her hand aiming at his face. He ducked immediately, knowing he had hit a nerve. However, she rounded on him quickly, grabbing his arm. All of a sudden, he found himself flying through the air, before crashing into a stone wall, breaking it. Hibiki groaned in pain, but she wasn't done by a long shot. Something grabbed his face, and he felt himself being slammed hard on the ground.

Hibiki looked up. The girl had her hands on his face, holding him to the ground. He tried to push himself up, but she pinned him down hard. " Damn, I like it when you girls play it kinky, but you know, I did say your boobs were too small for me to fancy them. Come back in a couple of years and maybe I'll consider," Hibiki replied, coughing slightly, still in the mood for a sexual joke.

" You'll have the honour to at least see who I am. Perhaps then you will know the cause for these circumstances," the girl replied, pulling down her face mask. Hibiki raised his eyebrows when he saw her face. Her eyes were of a different colour, but the facial features were almost exactly the same as Maki. Tears were forming in her eyes as she looked at him.

" Holy shit, you related to her or something?" Hibiki asked.

" Just die!"

Hibiki eyes widened as she brought her hand up high, before bringing it down hard on his head.


	17. Chapter 16: Failure

**Chapter 16: Failure**

Hebi came right at him, its jaw wide open, ready to accept its prey. Hiroshi leaped aside as the snake went crashing into the ground where he was standing previously. His scorpion puppet shot it's razor-sharp tail at him. Hiroshi merely dodged the attack by an inch.

" Geez, you haven't attacked once. Is dodging all you are good at?" Hachi asked.

Hiroshi was having trouble dealing with Hachi. Now that his puppets were stolen by Hachi, he was quite defenseless. Hachi had managed within a short period of time master the use of his puppets, which was quite an incredible feat in itself. Now, all Hiroshi was capable of doing was avoiding Hachi's attacks.

The best Hiroshi was doing was stalling for time. It wouldn't really work now, since they were severely outnumbered. Ryouta, Hibiki and Kira managed to take out a few, but the pressure kept on piling as they were forced to withstand multiple enemies. Suzumi's timely genjutsu now helped keeping the enemies at bay, but her genjutsu wasn't infinate, and Suzumi's chakra capacities were not of the best, so her ace was limited.

Hachi had no real weakness. Hiroshi was unable to pierce his defensive maneuvers, and he already had a hard time trying not to get killed. He had multiple close-calls, still living and breathing thanks to all that training her had with Sora. Ironically, despite all his protest on detesting taijutsu training, if he did not just obliged to Sora's training whims, he would have been dead by now.

Hiroshi was able to read Hachi's movements slightly, through the movement of his fingers and since he was familiar with his puppets mechanisms. It only took a keen eye and the right amount of movement to avoid Hachi's attacks. However, it didn't look like Hachi was being serious, as if he was playing with Hiroshi just to pass the time.

Hiroshi was torn as to what to do. His comrades were slowly withering away, and seeing the forces, he knew they would be overwhelmed soon. He could not turn around and help them, since Hachi would most likely kill him the second he had his back turned. However, Hachi seemed content to play a dodging game with him. It frustrated Hiroshi to no end, but he had no option left.

" Helpless, aren't you? Too bad. You all will lose here," Hachi replied.

Upon hearing Hachi spoke, Hiroshi suddenly had an inspiration. It was a bold plan, and he even surprised himself to even manage to consider it. Besides, if they were about to lose, then he may as well give it a shot.

Hachi seemed to notice a change in his expression, a firm resolution in his eyes. " Oh, what's this? Feeling up to the task on seriously taking me on now?" Hachi asked, seeing Hiroshi suddenly bracing himself.

" You bet I am," Hiroshi replied, getting ready to counterattack. _It's now or never, Hiroshi. Your final blaze of glory. Make this work!_

_-  
_

The girl landed a blow to Hibiki's forehead, bashing it. From the force of the impact she applied, and from the sound, she believed that she managed to crack his skull. Hibiki lay silent on the ground, not moving at all. She figured she had killed him.

That is, until Hibiki's arm suddenly rose up and caught hers.

" Gotcha!" he replied, smirking despite blood dripping all over his face.

The girl tried to get off him, but Hibiki managed to stab her slightly on the side as she tried to leap off him. Blood dripped out from the side of her wound as she moved away from Hibiki, who slowly stood up.

" This...this is impossible! How the hell are you still alive?!" she exclaimed loudly.

Hibiki merely wiped the blood off his face, before looking at her in a bored fashion. " Alive? Simple, that's because I wasn't dead in the first place," Hibiki replied, before looking at the blood on his spear. " Tch, too shallow. I was hoping for a deeper wound."

At the very last second, Hibiki managed to focus a layer of chakra on his forehead. With that, he managed to soften the blow a little. It wasn't much, but if not for that, he would be dead right now.

" Well, where were we?" he replied, raising his spear.

-

Hiroshi suddenly leaped at Hachi. Hachi moved Hebi into place, its jaws wide open, ready to devour Hiroshi. Hiroshi leaped up slightly, the snake missing him by a bit as he flew forward. He did a quick flip to avoid the scorpion puppet from impaling him with the tail. He slammed his foot on Hebi, kicking himself off, just as Hachi released a set of blades from the puppets, almost sawing Hiroshi's legs off.

Hiroshi landed on the side, arming his weapon launchers before firing a set of windmill shurikens at Hachi. Hachi merely ducked to avoid the first one, before moving Hebi into place to intercept the rest of them. Two missed Hachi, but he saw chakra strings being attached to them. Hiroshi changed their direction in mid-air, flying back towards Hachi, which he retaliated, by making Hebi catch them in its mouth.

" Interesting tool. Something you made?" Hachi asked.

Hiroshi didn't reply. He merely fired shurikens in Hachi's direction. Hachi made Hebi coil up all around him, forming some sort of shield, the weapons merely bouncing off its hide. Hiroshi ran towards him, firing an explosive note tagged to a kunai. Hachi merely knocked the explosive note aside, before it dropped on the ground some distance away, not exploding.

" Hmm, a fake?" Hachi mused.

Hiroshi flung two more explosive notes towards Hachi. Not wanting to risk it, he knocked the explosive notes aside with the scorpion puppet. Both of them exploded in a large big blast. Wincing slightly, Hachi caught sight of Hiroshi running towards him, firing a set of kunais in his direction. Hachi moved Hebi to attack. The snake puppet reared its head, before striking like a cobra.

The snake puppet immediately went for Hiroshi. Just before it could strike, there was a sudden snap, before the snake stopped abruptly all of a sudden before it managed to bite Hiroshi in it's jaws. Hiroshi continued on, unhindered by the snake now, passing it just as it started to regain it's movements.

" What?" Hachi exclaimed.

Hiroshi jumped on the scorpion puppet and slammed a senbon needle on the base of the tail. All of a sudden, the tail fell off. Hachi moved the puppet to snap it's claws at Hiroshi, but he managed to leap off the puppet, attaching some chakra strings to the tail and putting some distance between them. Hiroshi attached chakra strings all over the puppet's tail he had managed to break, before the tail broke into small little bits, Hiroshi having dismantled his puppet's tail. Hachi was about to move when he saw a shuriken fall out from one of Hebi's joints.

" Not bad..." Hachi replied, smiling. " After all, only you know your puppets the best."

When it came to the puppets, Hiroshi knew them the best. He carefully aimed the shurikens at some of the joints where he knew it was bound to jam it when it moved, and he could easily pin-point areas where he could easily disassemble his puppet.

" Heh, of course, but my masterpiece as yet to be shown," Hiroshi replied.

" Well then, entertain me!" Hachi exclaimed.

Hiroshi ran towards Hachi, firing another explosive note at him. The scorpions back opened up, and out came a whole slew of kunais, knocking the explosive note aside. It blew up with a bang, but the blast managed to conceal Hiroshi's movements a little. Looking upwards, Hachi spotted Hiroshi firing another set of explosive notes at him. This time, he leaped back to avoid them, letting them blow up on the ground. Hachi fired two explosive notes on the tree Hiroshi was on, blowing the trunk to bits in an instant, forcing Hiroshi to jump off.

Once he did, Hachi used his puppets to fire a whole slew of kunais. Hiroshi fired several wires attached to his weapon launcher to a nearby tree, reeling himself in, the kunais missing him by an inch. However, just as he swung himself to the branch, he just spotted Hebi springing towards him, it's jaw wide open.

Hiroshi frantically aimed his weapon launcher at Hebi, and fired several explosive notes into it's mouth. The multiple explosive notes went off, blowing the puppet to smithereens. Hiroshi fell off the branch and landed on the ground with the thud as the blast knocked him off the tree.

" Damn it," Hiroshi groaned. During the blast, one of the wooden splinters managed to hit him in his gut, stabbing him painfully. He yanked it out, groaning in pain as he did so. He quickly tried to heal his wound. _Shit, I got careless..._he thought.

A sudden movement caused him to duck. The scorpion came out of nowhere, snapping it's claws at him. Hiroshi crouched low and rolled out of the way, still holding on his wound. He tried to heal it using his medical jutsu while trying to move. If he bled out too much, his plan might not come to fruition.

_Come on, just a bit more..._he thought to himself.

Hachi continued to send the scorpion puppet towards him. Hiroshi dropped a smoke grenade, covering himself in white smoke. Dodging aside under cover, he moved away, but Hachi was on his tracks as soon as he managed to get out of the smoke screen. Hiroshi gritted his teeth as he dropped another smoke grenade.

_Fine, since he's pushing, I may as well play my hand..._Hiroshi thought fiercely.

Hiroshi slipped out of the smokescreen, and as expected, Hachi sent the puppet after him once more. Hiroshi dropped another smoke screen, hiding himself from view. Hachi waited. It was impossible for him to have an unlimited amount of smoke grenades in his arsenal. However, this time, Hiroshi didn't seem to be in the mood for coming out of his hiding hole.

Hachi jumped back just in time as something burst from the ground. From within the smokescreen, Hiroshi sent another puppet to him, just a simple humanoid puppet. It burst out from under the ground, almost nicking him, but just missing him by a fraction of a second.

" You missed..." Hachi replied.

" No, I didn't," Hiroshi answered.

The puppet suddenly picked up something on the ground, tossing it towards the scorpion puppet. Hachi saw that it was the fake explosive note, except it was highly unlikely to be fake considering that Hiroshi was now using it again. It was more likely he didn't activate the tag the previous throw. The explosive note hit the puppet and exploded, blasting the puppet into smithereens.

" Guess your puppets are useless now," Hiroshi replied.

" Are you dumb? That was a nice shot, but in case you forgotten..."

Without warning, the humanoid puppet exploded as well, making Hachi recoil. The charred pieces and broken parts fell all over the place. Hachi looked in surprise at the destroyed remains, before looking at Hiroshi.

" You steal puppets. No, I'm pretty much aware of it. So, I did the next best thing: destroy all the puppets I have," Hiroshi replied. " Well, this sucks, cos I just lost all my arsenal of puppets. Good news is that you don't have a puppet of your own, do you?"

" Hmph, so you were aiming for the puppets, not me?" Hachi asked.

" A puppeteer always uses his puppets as defensive tools. I just figured you'd move that way," Hiroshi replied.

Hachi merely frowned. Despite being at a disadvantage, Hiroshi still managed to pull of a strategy to disarm Hachi. Considering that he also placed the tag on the floor beforehand, he must have been planning quite far ahead, or either that, he's very crafty.

" So, since we don't have any puppets now, guess it's up to us to see whether you or me is better at good old taijutsu, huh?" Hiroshi replied, grinning.

-

Suzumi suddenly appeared into view next to Ryouta, panting and sweating heavily. Her genjutsu's time limit was up, and she only managed to take down some of them. One of the shinobis leaped at her, but Ryouta and Makoto came in to intercept him just in time. Ryouta held him in place as Makoto slashed him with his wind blade, killing him in an instant.

" How are we holding up?" Makoto asked.

" ...Not...good..." Ryouta gasped.

" Urm, are you all alright?" Lady Kaguya exclaimed.

" Lady Kaguya, get down!" Ryouta yelled. Lady Kaguya winced as someone threw a kunai at her, only to be deflected as Kira flung his dagger to intercept the weapon.

Hibiki suddenly came into view, being thrown by some invisible force. It looked like he had been hit badly. Suzumi immediately went to him, trying to heal his wounds as Ryouta turned to look at who had thrown him. It was a kunoichi with dark red hair. Seeing a couple of them being hit back, the rest of them regrouped, forming a small circle around Lady Kaguya.

" Shit, we can't continue this fight..." Ryouta exclaimed. Most of them had been injured, and having fought for so long, had expended almost all their chakra. Their enemies now surrounded them, having cornered them, were now not attacking.

" Damn it..." Tayu replied, gritting her teeth.

A sudden cry from the left made Ryouta turn his head. Hiroshi came flying towards him. Reacting quickly, he caught Hiroshi just before he was about to slam into Lady Kaguya. He was cut in several areas, and he looked beat. " Hey, Hiroshi, are you alright?" Ryouta asked in alarm.

Hiroshi could merely groan in pain, looking back at Hachi as he slowly stepped closer to him. _...What the hell did he just do to me?..._ Hiroshi thought.

" Geez, you look terrible," Sora commented, skidding next to him.

" ...Is that all you can say?" Hiroshi asked, Ryouta helping him to his feet.

" Well, I'm impressed you've held out so long, but it seems that your defeat was unavoidable. If you handed Lady Kaguya over to us, this would have been avoided," Hachi replied. " Still, it was fun while it lasted..."

" Fun?! Is this your idea of fun?!" Makoto yelled.

" What, being a sore loser now? Never suited you, Makoto," Hachi replied.

If there was any feeling of utter despair, now was a good time. Ryouta could not see how they could even pull this off. They were hurt, tired and just too weak to put up a good fight anymore, except maybe Sora and Kira. But up against eight of them, they stood no chance. Ryouta glanced desperately at their lines, wondering if they could somehow break through, while someone escorted Lady Kaguya to safety. Not possible, they were not fit to fight, nor carry Lady Kaguya away quickly enough.

" Maybe you regret letting me go the other time. I don't blame you, but you did say we will kill each other the next time we meet. I have a good valid reason this time too, Makoto," Hachi replied coldly towards his former comrade. Makoto merely gritted his teeth. Hachi slowly pulled out an explosive note from his pack, and the rest of the enemy shinobis did the same. " Well, why not go out in a bang? Let's see how long you can last."

All of them flung the explosive notes at them. Ryouta and the rest of them retaliated by countering the explosive tags with their projectile weapons, throwing shurikens and kunais back. Explosions rang out all around the place as they did their last ditch effort to stay alive.

" Ugh!"

Ryouta spun around when he heard the noise. He saw Lady Kaguya standing behind him, with a explosive tag tied to a kunai stabbed into the middle of her chest. She looked utterly surprised, looking at the explosive tag on her chest, before looking back up towards Ryouta.

" No!" Tayu cried, tears flowing from her eyes.

" Shit!"

An explosion occurred, centering on Lady Kaguya, sending the rest of them flying in all directions, knocking most of them unconscious, leaving them in a heap on the ground floor. Hachi passively watched the spot where Lady Kaguya stood, which was now burning brightly from the blast. Finally, they were defeated.

Ryouta was still barely conscious after the blast. His body felt as heavy as lead, but he tried to roll himself over, but was unable to do so. He looked up from the ground, only to see Hachi standing in front of him, looking at him as if pitying him in some sort of way. One of the shinobis came up to him, and Hachi turned to face him.

" Sir, they are still alive. Shall we finish them off?" he asked.

" ...No, there is no real need. We finished what we needed to do, so there is no point finishing this bunch of fools off. Besides, the blast took out their medics. It's not likely for them to last too long with such injuries without their medics. Infections are sure to set in, considering the circumstances," Hachi replied.

Ryouta turned to his right. Lying not far away from where he was were Hiroshi, cradling Suzumi in her arms. Ryouta's heart skipped a beat when he saw them, along with the long trail of blood that followed behind their bodies. From the looks of it, it seemed that they wouldn't make it. Hiroshi must have at the last second tried to shield Suzumi from the blast. It looked like his attempt to save her was quite futile.

" Let's go, there is nothing for us to do here," Hachi replied. Ryouta could hear the rest of them leaving, knowing that they had already won. He clenched his fist in anger, before pounding his fist hard on the floor, knowing that he had failed. He let out a wail of sorrow, his voice carrying throughout the forest.


	18. Chapter 17: Suzuki Hiroshi

**Chapter 17: Suzuki Hiroshi**

" Looks like your teammate's depressed. I don't blame him really, after all he has been through," Akane replied, addressing Sora who was on the ground. " Well, too bad about our fight, huh? Guess it was sort of a draw. I wish we could have ended it personally."

" Shut up. Just get out of my sight, bitch," Sora replied as she picked herself up, slightly unsteady on her feet. Akane was the only one left, looking at Sora as she tilted her head slightly. " I'm just too tired to deal with you now."

" Oh well...hope to see you again soon," Akane replied. " We should catch up sometime soon, you know?" Sora merely sighed. Akane was speaking to her as if she had just dropped by for a visit and was coming back once more. She heard her leave a while later, jumping up onto the branches of the nearby trees, leaving as quickly as possible.

" Sora..." Ryouta spoke. Sora turned her head to see Ryouta next to her, clutching his shoulder in pain. He looked, tired, depressed and sad. Sora glanced sideways to see Hiroshi and Suzumi lying on the floor together, not moving. Something welled up in her eyes, and it stung somewhat. Tears, perhaps?

A sudden crying howl brought them back to their senses. Tayu was kneeling fight in front of the blast crater where Lady Kaguya once stood, crying loudly as tears streamed down her eyes. Next to her was Kira, silent and unmoved. Ryouta wasn't sure what was going through his head, but he didn't want to think about it. He felt sorry for Tayu, for they had failed to protect something important to her. Ryouta didn't have the heart to go and console her.

" You still alive?"

Ryouta turned to Hibiki, who was leaning against a broken wall, his spear propped right next to him. Ryouta merely nodded, and Hibiki took that as a yes.

" Tch, this is all your fault..." Hibiki muttered.

" My fault?! What the hell are you talking about?!" Ryouta exclaimed, wondering what Hibiki was implying.

" Wasn't referring to you, dang it," Hibiki replied.

Ryouta saw Hibiki looking at Makoto, who was sitting by the side, leaning against a wall as well. Makoto didn't respond, but merely 'gazed' sullenly at his surroundings. Hibiki was glaring down angrily at him. Only Tayu's cries continued to echo around the area.

" Hey, I was talking to you, damn it!" Hibiki shot back when Makoto didn't reply.

Makoto shot up and grabbed Hibiki by his attire. " What now, damn it?! So, this is now my fault, is it?!" Makoto yelled back.

" Damn straight it is!" Hibiki shot back.

" You guys are making too much fucking noise! Shut it, damn it!" Sora exclaimed.

" Hey, you have no right to be arguing. Who was the one who simply jumped off to pick a fight?" Ryouta asked, sighing loudly.

" What's your problem?!" Sora yelled.

" Geez, why are you idiots arguing about?"

All of them suddenly turned their heads in the direction of the voice. Hiroshi and Suzumi were sitting next to each other, Hiroshi scratching his head sheepishly while Suzumi merely smiled at them. Hiroshi had to admit the surprised looks they had on their faces, with their gaping mouths, was just priceless.

" Hiroshi, you..." Ryouta gasped.

" Relax, this is fake blood, same with Suzumi," Hiroshi replied, tapping the spot on his chest which was totally covered in red liquid. " Well, I guess the jig is up. Come on out, Lady Kaguya, I think the coast is safe now."

The rest of them turned to a pile of rubble that started to shake a little, before a small block collapsed out, and very slowly, the figure of Lady Kaguya crawled out of the rubble. She looked around as she exited, before asking " Urm, what went on around here?" she asked.

There was a massive exclamation of joy, before the rest of them spotted a body fly across the area, crashing into Lady Kaguya, sending her to the ground. Tayu was sobbing uncontrollably as she hugged Lady Kaguya tightly. Lady Kaguya looked relieved, patting Tayu on her head to calm herself down.

" Hiroshi, I'm not sure if I have said this yet, but you are a genius!" Suzumi replied, beaming.

" Well, I was worried about them not buying it, but I guess we managed to avoid getting ourselves killed," Hiroshi replied, scratching his head. " Geez, you idiots are hopeless. What are you guys going to do without me, huh?"

Nobody said anything for a while. Hiroshi couldn't blame them. It would take a while for the shock to die down. Sora was the first to react, by running over to him and hitting his head. " Ass, why didn't you explain this sooner?!" she yelled.

" Crazy woman! What was the point in explaining it sooner? It would ruin the purpose," Hiroshi replied.

Ryouta, Hibiki and Makoto started laughing out loud. " Hiroshi, I don't know what the hell you just pulled, but I..." Ryouta said, crying slightly. " ..I'm...I'm just...glad..."

" Aw, don't get all sentimental on me," Hiroshi replied. " I'll explain, but first, we need to fix up our injuries first."

-

They spent the next half an hour fixing up their injuries, Hiroshi and Suzumi moving about to tend to their comrade's injuries. They had expended most of their chakra, so they only used their medical jutsus for the more serious wounds. Others they had to do it the old-fashion way, using a sewing kit, disinfectant and bandages.

" Hiroshi, I just...well, I don't know how to say this, but I'm really grateful that Lady Kaguya's alive, and it's thanks to you. I'm really grateful," Tayu said, rubbing her eyes, which were still wet with tears.

" It's alright...I understand," Hiroshi replied as he bandaged her arm.

" So, tell us, punk. What the hell did you just do?" Hibiki asked.

" Slowly, take it step by step, Hibiki," Hiroshi replied, sighing. " Alright, here we go. It kinda looked obvious that we were losing the fight. However, our main objective was to protect Lady Kaguya. So, considering that we were about to lose, I decided to take the path with the least amount of loss."

Ryouta raised his eyebrows. " What do you mean?" he asked.

" These guys wanted Lady Kaguya dead, right? So, I figured, if they think she's dead, then they won't be bothering with us, right?," Hiroshi replied.

" Wait, so the Lady Kaguya that exploded, that was your puppet?" Sora exclaimed.

" Yeah, I switched..." Hiroshi replied.

" When?" Ryouta asked.

" The time when I was fighting Hachi. I dropped several smoke grenades to sort of confuse him, before disabling the puppets with explosive notes. I switched during the second smoke grenade. I had to take care during the switch, because Hachi might have noticed it, so I sort of played an ace against him. So, while he was thinking I was doing my best to fight him, the fight was merely a cover to hide Lady Kaguya," Hiroshi replied. " During the second smokescreen, I got hold of Lady Kaguya by the edges of the smokescreen, hid her, and replaced her with my puppet. Thankfully there was too much confusion going on around for anyone to really notice. Furthermore, Hachi was under the impression that I've run out of puppets."

" Wait, but you made the puppet look like Lady Kaguya," Tayu replied.

" I have my techniques. I can fix a puppet to look like someone. Usually done by adding a layer of latex skin and some paint," Hiroshi replied.

" But that would have taken a while? When did you..." Makoto asked, before realisation dawned on him. " Wait, you did it last night, right? You fixed your puppet to mimic Lady Kaguya last night, that's why you weren't sleeping much?"

" Yeah, and I had Lady Kaguya with me, so it was kinda easy work to make a puppet copy of her," Hiroshi replied, grinning.

" But if they destroyed the puppet, they would instantly know that it was a fake," Sora replied.

" Nope, because I'm thinking way ahead of that," Hiroshi replied. " Of course, if they stabbed her, then they would obviously know she was a puppet."

" No way!" Tayu exclaimed. " Explosions?!"

" That's right. By using an explosion as a method of death, I can cover up the trace of the puppet, while faking Lady Kaguya's death. As you always say, Ryouta, fire is one of the simplest and best ways of destroying stuff, or in other words, evidence. Engulfing Lady Kaguya in a large explosion was enough to fool them into thinking she died," Hiroshi answered.

" Wait, but it was a mere coincidence that they threw an explosive note at her!" Sora objected.

" Nope, using explosions was my objective anyway. If you all looked carefully, it was me who placed the explosive tag on Lady Kaguya, not them. I was planning on blowing her up regardless of whether or not they used explosive notes to attack us. Them using explosive notes made it easier for me to carry out my trick," Hiroshi answered.

" What if they were not going to use explosive notes for their final attack? What then?" Hibiki asked.

" Setting it off by accident. I would have accidentally dropped it somewhere, and let the puppet step on it or something. Much trickier, but as I said, we got a stroke of luck with them playing along with my game," Hiroshi answered.

" ...What about the smell?" Kira asked.

Everyone turned to him. It was the only thing he had said so far, which felt strange. They were so used to him keeping quiet, so the question he posed felt out of place, but made so much sense. He merely gazed passively at Hiroshi.

" Smell?" Sora asked.

" Burnt flesh. Burning flesh has a distinct smell. I had a nagging suspicion that the Lady Kaguya was a puppet, but I didn't think so when I smelt burning flesh," Kira replied.

Hiroshi pointed to the corpses of their fallen enemies lying around them. " Well, there were plenty of dead bodies to burn to hide the smell. Ryouta helped, a lot, in that department," Hiroshi said. " The smell of burning bodies was already in the air, easily hiding my puppet's burning smell."

" You know, explosions are fine and all, but you blew up that explosive note pretty close to all of use when we surrounded that puppet of yours," Sora replied. " We could have been seriously hurt, or killed by that reckless blast."

" I measured the blast radius and direction carefully, so the worst you all would get would be some injuries. Also, I set of the explosion on the inside, where there was a metal shell around the puppet, thus the explosion won't be that serious as it would absorb the blow slightly. Besides..." Hiroshi replied, looking away guiltily. " ...Besides, at that point, I was considering the fact that we were going to die here. Hiding Lady Kaguya was my main objective. Keeping the rest of you safe was...my second priority."

Ryouta understood what Hiroshi felt. " Don't worry, you did well. None of us here are blaming you for that," he replied, trying to console him. " Right, Sora?"

" Huh, what...eh, yeah, right..." Sora muttered.

" So then, if you were only planning on faking Lady Kaguya's death, why fake yours and Suzumi's?" Makoto asked.

" Well, if I was going to spare one life, why not try another? On the rare occasion that they leave once Lady Kaguya is presumed dead, Suzumi would be vital as a medic-nin to treat the rest of us after they leave," Hiroshi replied, although they noticed he was going red in the face slightly. " ...And, you know, she was the closest to me..."

" Sure this has nothing to do with you liking her?" Hibiki asked, his face racking into a broad grin.

Hiroshi merely looked at the floor, hiding his face. " ...Maybe..." he muttered.

" Hibiki, stop teasing him..." Suzumi replied. " Why, jealous you didn't get grabbed by him?"

" I'd rather avoid that at all costs," Hibiki replied, while the rest of them started laughing out loud. All of them were glad they got out of the mess, not entirely in one piece, but alive nonetheless.

" Well, now that's all said and done," Hiroshi replied. " ...This might not be my place so say this, but I was wondering if there is a level of dissonance within our group."

All of them suddenly kept quiet. Hiroshi figured he managed to hit a mark, while Suzumi looked at him curiously.

" Makoto, I'm not sure what's up, but it's hardly like you to be so silent, and passive. You seemed to have lost your killing edge, and your mind seems to be wandering. You seem more hesitant now, as if something was holding you back. Not once did I see you execute your wind jutsus during the fight," Hiroshi spoke. Makoto merely looked at the floor. Hiroshi knew he couldn't see, but he was sure he was paying attention to him.

" Hibiki, I don't know what your problem is, but harping over the past isn't going to change anything. What's done is done, and there is nothing else to do about it. Your negative behavior is affecting the team, ...well, at least it's affecting me," Hiroshi continued. He didn't say it out loud, but Hibiki knew he was talking about him being harsh on Makoto about the Hachi issue.

" Ryouta, it's so unlike you to be so reckless. I haven't seen you being so reckless or wild since ever. I don't know if there is something on your mind or something, but this isn't the reason why I chose you as our leader in the first place. We chose you because you know how to think things through calmly, and make careful decisions, not because of your reckless fighting. If we need reckless fighting, we have Sora to fill our needs," Hiroshi replied.

" Hey!"

" And Sora, I know you never had much respect for rules, but you going around fighting for your personal vendetta isn't good for this team. Breaking the rules, and going against orders. Honestly, that's the worst. If Lady Kaguya had died, it would have been mainly your fault," Hiroshi replied. Sora merely shot him a venomous look, but didn't reply. Hiroshi had no idea why he was being harsh with Sora, or with the rest of his teammates. Even Suzumi looked at him curiously.

" Alright, I've had my say in the matter," Hiroshi replied, standing up. " I'll...go look for something to eat now..."

-

Ryouta was perched along the veranda, looking at the night sky. Several hours had passed, and they had managed to find themselves shelter in a small village nearby. The villagers took pity in their need, and gave them a wooden hut to rest for the night. None of them were in any condition to travel, so they were forced to rest here in some small fishing village. Ryouta didn't have a choice in the matter, and assuming that the enemy figured Lady Kaguya was dead, they managed to buy themselves some time. However, Ryouta could not assume that. He still needed to think that they might turn back, anytime now.

Today was a hectic and rough day, and honestly, Ryouta was somehow glad they managed to get out of it alive. He had not been so close to failure and death in a while, and it just irked him that he was being lucky today. It wasn't that he didn't know that there would be risks in taking this mission, but still, the thought of losing his friends was just a bit too much for him to bear, especially under such dangerous circumstances.

Everyone needed to rest, so Ryouta only alloted one person to keep watch at any time. It was a bit dangerous, but recovering from their injuries was of more importance now. Since they were so lucky so far, Ryouta figured he could risk a gamble with having minimal people keeping watch. Besides, some people had difficulty sleeping anyway.

" I thought I asked you to sleep?" Ryouta asked.

" Heh...well, you know..." Hiroshi replied, chuckling as he sat down next to Ryouta. " How's your injuries?"

" Nothing too serious. You don't need to worry about me," Ryouta replied.

" Well, it's my job to worry about such things..." Hiroshi replied. This was then followed by a long awkward silence. " You know, I was thinking about..."

" If you want to apologise for your earlier outburst, don't," Ryouta replied before Hiroshi could bring himself to finish his sentence. " I'm not blaming you for it, and besides, as you said, it's your job to worry about such things. Anyway, what you said was true...I was being reckless, very unlike me, huh?"

Hiroshi merely observed his friend as he spoke to him. He had some sort of a heavy tone, as if he had some sort of a burden on his chest. Ryouta merely glance towards the open area of the village, where all the other wooden houses lay, now quiet as everyone else in the village was sleeping peacefully.

" ...You know, I know you aren't a priest or a counselor, or anything of the sort, but...you mind listening to me for a bit?" Ryouta asked.

Hiroshi wondered where this was going, but he agreed to it anyway. " You don't need to ask...go ahead..." Hiroshi answered.

" ...You know, it's not like I never wondered why you fools picked me to lead this motley crew. I know I'm the best leader amongst all of you, and you all will agree to that," Ryouta replied. " It's just that...well, sometimes I despise this position."

" ...You despise being team leader?" Hiroshi asked.

" Yeah..."

" Then, why don't you say so...?"

" How could I?" Ryouta sighed. " After all, you all depend on me..."

Hiroshi merely kept quiet, so Ryouta continued. " I had an image to uphold. If I couldn't take this role, who would? Thus, the baton of responsibility falls on me, but I do not relish this burden. Being team leader means a lot of responsibility, and the fact that my team falls if I fail...the thought scares me, Hiroshi, it really does," Ryouta replied. " It haunts me sometimes...the feeling of failure, with the cost of people important to me hanging in the balance."

" ...Well, you would prefer me to take charge?" Hiroshi asked.

Ryouta merely threw his head back and gave a hearty laugh. " That would be hilarious. You would not have the balls, nor the skills for it," Ryouta replied, before reverting back into a much moodier tone. " It's not that, Hiroshi...it's just..."

Ryouta took a deep breath and sighed loudly. " I don't know...perhaps I'm scared, Hiroshi. After all, your lives lie on my decisions, and honestly, I hate to stain my hands with your blood," Ryouta replied. " It's a sense of despair that brings about this recklessness...it is as if when I strive harder, I can make a difference...you don't know how scared I was earlier, when I thought you died..."

" ...I'm touched..." Hiroshi honestly replied.

" ...And I feel awkward," Ryouta responded.

" ...Sorry, never figured you might think that way. I mean, who could? After all, you are our one and only fearless leader, Sato Ryouta, the shinobi everybody looks up to," Hiroshi replied. " But you know, I'm not sure whether you will believe me in this, but if we were to fail, I wouldn't blame you one bit, and I honestly believe that none of us will."

Ryouta merely looked at Hiroshi as he spoke, smiling slightly. " Alright, saying all of us is a bit far...I mean, how well exactly do I know my Sand-comrades. But it is true for me. If we failed today, and I was to die, I wouldn't blame you the least. You know why? That's because you are my best buddy, and you never make any mistakes, even in the due course of failure. If anything, I'd probably blame myself for not being strong enough to help out. Sora would probably think the same, she just doesn't outwardly show it."

" I'm not sure how to handle a leadership role, and truthfully, I'm scared of the prospect of becoming a leader. But you are a natural, Ryouta. It's because of you we can fight, for we are inspired to take greater lengths. There was a reason why we unanimously chose you, Ryouta. Forgive us for giving you this burden, but there can be no other," Hiroshi replied.

Ryouta didn't reply, but merely glanced at the village in front of him. Only the silence of the night and the chirping of the cicadas greeted their ears in the midst of the night, and the pale glow of the moon. The night felt so melancholic, especially after they had so closely avoided death. Hiroshi picked himself up.

" Well, I better get some sleep, if you insist, huh?" Hiroshi replied, before walking back in.

" Hey, Hiroshi..." Ryouta called back. Hiroshi stopped himself and looked curiously at Ryouta, his body illuminated by the light from the moon.

" ...You and I both know you ain't leader material, but know this: I think you are the rock of this team, and you are the very piece that holds this motley crew intact," Ryouta replied.

Hiroshi merely beamed at him as he caught Ryouta smirking at him, before entering back into the hut. Darkness once again engulfed him, before he turned to look as a dark figure standing by the side of the wall, leaning with his spear propped next to him.

" How long were you listening?" Hiroshi asked.

" ...If I answer yes, you'd think I'm some prick who can't give people privacy. If I answer no, then you'd think I'm some pathetic guy who is too scared to admit his own fault," Hibiki replied, scowling good-naturedly.

" And the fact that said person avoided answering the question meant he was both, besides being an ass," Hiroshi replied.

" Harsh," Hibiki replied.

" Doesn't change the fact that you are still an ass," Hiroshi replied, still grinning. " Can't sleep?"

" Well, you woke me up when you got up. You know how difficult it is to go back to sleep once disturbed," Hibiki replied. Hiroshi knew he was lying. He figured Hibiki wanted to talk, and chose this as a perfect opportunity. But, he decided to play ignorant, for his friends sake. " ...Never knew Ryouta had that side to him?"

" Me neither, but then, why am I not surprised?" Hiroshi replied.

" ...You...are you angry with me?" Hibiki asked.

" Should I be?" Hiroshi asked good-naturedly.

" ...Look, I don't know what you think about this Hachi business, alright, but this is how I look at it. Hachi left the village, and he should be treated like how we treat every damned missing-nin from our village. The price of betrayal must be paid in blood. I don't know how you Leafs think about it, but leaving the village is no simple matter," Hibiki replied. " ...Well, not that I'd expect an optimist to understand much of the situation."

" I'm sure the circumstances change, Hibiki," Hiroshi replied.

" Betraying the village doesn't change a thing," Hibiki replied bitterly. " You know, maybe it's not because Makoto allowed Hachi to leave the village that irritates me so much. It's what he's done, what Makoto has done."

" What?" Hiroshi asked.

" He lied to me," Hibiki replied.

" Who? Hachi?"

" No, idiot, Makoto! Were you not listening?!"

" Shhh...the rest of them are still sleeping..." Hiroshi warned.

Hibiki calmed down a little, before continuing, folding his arms as he spoke, as if trying to make a point. " Makoto lied to me. Told me he was trying to convince them to stay. Said he had the means, and didn't wish to get Hachi into trouble with the authorities. Utter bull...he just let him go, didn't even make the effort to make him stay," Hibiki replied. " Damn it, he didn't even say he was sorry. Still hasn't. Wouldn't you be mad?"

Hiroshi merely looked at him sadly. " Yeah, bet I sound like a bully. I tried to forget about it, really I did. A mistake was a mistake, and we all make them, I did to. It's just...meeting these traitors again, reminds me of Makoto," Hibiki answered.

" What? You hate him now?" Hiroshi asked.

" Look, I respect him, alright, as a shinobi and comrade. He's being carrying this weight in his heart, always thinking about this Hachi, and his group. It's about time he forget about it, and move on. Sentimental values are useless here, especially with him. You should know, he tried to kill you..." Hibiki replied.

" ...You really, honestly think that this is the reason why Makoto is acting like this?" Hiroshi asked.

" ...If I say yes, you are probably going to say no, right?" Hibiki muttered.

" You said before that you respect Makoto as a shinobi and as a comrade, right?" Hiroshi replied.

" Well, those are my exact sentiments," Hibiki answered.

" I think there lies the problem," Hiroshi answered.

" What? What the heck is wrong with that?"

" As a friend..."

" Huh?"

" You said you respect Makoto as a shinobi and a comrade. What about as a friend? Do you not respect him as a friend? You know what I think, I think you do not, because I think I know you well enough to know, under normal circumstances, you would say that," Hiroshi replied.

Hibiki didn't reply, but merely looked at the floor. " You know what I think, Hibiki? I think Makoto cannot look past his mistake because his best friend could not forgive him. I think it is eating him inside to know that you will never forgive him for the mistake he made. Consider this, Hibiki, Hachi was his friend. Now, I'm not you, nor do I know Hachi well enough to know what's going on, but I think Hachi was someone important in his life. Whether he choose to allow Hachi to leave the village or not, the decision will hurt him for the rest of his life," Hiroshi replied.

" But the thing that hurt him the most is that you never brought yourself to stand by him. Makoto did what he thought was the best, to stand by his friend..."

" Stand by his friend? If he wanted to do that, he should have left along with him," Hibiki replied.

" And what about you? You think he'd leave you?" Hiroshi asked. Hibiki merely groaned, as if he was being lectured by his mom. " I think he's hurt because you won't stand by him. He lost two things that were important to him with a decision he didn't wish to make. Tell me, it was Makoto who approached you in the academy, correct? He looked up to you, not the opposite. He admired you for who you were. To think the one he admired disregarded him, what would he think?"

" Heh, okay, let's say you are right," Hibiki replied. " He could at least apologise first."

" He can't..."

" ...Shouldn't be that difficult," Hibiki replied.

" It's not that he personally cannot do so, but you won't allow him."

" What kind of idea are you...?"

" You'd scoff at him, thinking this is some form of him trying to butter you up. You wouldn't accept his apology honestly, and this will only hurt his pride, because he wouldn't want to hear this. You should know as much that Makoto has that much pride. You know yourself well enough you would not, because you have not forgiven him," Hiroshi answered. " Best friends stick through the end, be if for good or worse, no? We did it for you, and you replied in turn. Couldn't you at least do the same for Makoto? Consider this: if he considered Hachi more important than you, why didn't he leave with him? What, exactly, compelled him to stay in the Sand village? As far as I know, he has no family, so the only things important to him in the village would be the village itself and the people he still knows…"

Hibiki suddenly started laughing, a slightly cackling laughter. Hiroshi looked around in alarm, wondering if the laugh would wake anyone at this hour, but despite his pleas, Hibiki didn't seem to want to stop. He did stop a while later, his eyes slightly watery.

" Heh heh heh, I guess that's one of the things Suzumi liked about you...you know, your ability to know people," Hibiki replied. " Yeah, you are absolutely right. I haven't forgiven him of this shit, and honestly, I don't know if the day would come if I would."

He got off the wall, and picked up his spear, before slowly walking away. Hiroshi merely looked downwards as he walked by, the silence between them unnerving somewhat. Hiroshi wanted to say something further, but couldn't bring himself to do it.

" Hey, Hiroshi..." Hibiki spoke all of a sudden.

" Yeah?" Hiroshi asked, turning around quickly.

" Thanks...thanks a lot..." Hibiki replied, before walking away. Hiroshi raised his eyebrows, wondering what that was all about. He could only pray it would get better soon. After all, some wounds are sometimes impossible to heal, as a medic-nin, he should know as well. Sometimes they never heal.

Not too far away, Makoto was leaning on the opposite side of the wall, keeping silent as he listened to the conversation.


	19. Chapter 18: Dawn of a New Day

**Chapter 18: Dawn of a New Day**

Tayu woke up in the early morning, only to be greeted by a headache, and something that was being baked and smelt heavenly. Turning her head around, she spotted Hiroshi by the oven, retrieving a freshly baked load of bread from the oven, ready to be served as breakfast. He had managed to gather some berries, pounded and added with sugar, which would serve as a spread for the bread.

" What time is it?" Tayu asked.

" Fairly early, about 6 in the morning. Hiroshi's got breakfast prepared, come join us," the voice of Lady Kaguya replied. Tayu rubbed her eyes sleepily, only to catch a glimpse of Lady Kaguya setting the table ready. Hiroshi had already sliced the bread into several pieces, and laid the down on a number of plates. Looking around, she saw that most of them were already up and about, save for Sora and her, although a few of them seemed to be missing from the place.

Tayu threw the blanket covering her off her body, and got towards the dining table. The bandages Suzumi applied seemed to restrict her movements slightly, but she decided not to complain about it as she sat down on the table and took a slice of bread. Even without spread, it was fairly good. Tayu wondered where did Hiroshi find the supplies to cook something like this.

" Where are the rest of them?" Tayu asked, her mouth full of food.

" Out and about, somewhere in the village, I guess..." Hiroshi replied. " They have already eaten. This is the third batch I'm cooking. Share it with Sora, will you?"

" ...But this is a lot..." Tayu objected.

" Well, I guess you underestimate Sora's eating capabilities," Hiroshi answered.

Tayu was given a shock all of a sudden when someone leaned her hand over from behind, grabbed several pieces of bread from the table, not bothering with anything else. Sora then sat down next to her, before starting to feast on the bread, with a sleepy look on her face. She didn't even bother to greet them, merely munching on her food.

" Take note on how she finishes one slice with just one bite," Hiroshi replied, chucking to himself as he moved off to clean up the mess in the kitchen.

" So, after we are done eating, when are we leaving?" Tayu asked.

" ...Tomorrow, I think..." Hiroshi replied, after giving some thought.

Hiroshi jumped when Tayu slammed her hands on the wooden table, causing a loud bang, shaking the plates and cups on the table, making Lady Kaguya recoil slightly. Sora, however, was not fazed by Tayu's actions, merely chewing on her bread, taking extra slices.

" Tomorrow...what the heck are we going to do today? Stick around?" Tayu asked.

" Hey, relax, we aren't in the best of shape since the incident yesterday. Ryouta thinks that we are in no position to be traveling, and Suzumi and I agree, in a medical perspective. Get some good rest today, and we will be fresh enough to move tomorrow. No point in moving with all these injuries," Hiroshi explained.

" But what if the enemy realises your trick, and comes after us? We are only in a village not far from the site. It wouldn't take much of their brains to figure out we camp here if they come looking for us," Tayu argued.

" Ryouta didn't think so. He believes they might have taken the bait. Consider this: More than 12 hours have passed since then. If they managed to figure out that we tricked them, they should be hounding after our asses by now, and as far as Makoto is concerned, he has not traced any activity since," Hiroshi answered.

" He may be mistaken, like he was previously," Tayu replied, her voice sounding like she was having some reservations.

" Not trying to back my friend purely because he's my friend, Makoto did mention that he is unable to trace people who are not moving. We made that mistake by assuming that our pursuers were chasing us while we were on the run. Now, if they were coming directly here, they will need to move here, and Makoto WILL sense them, unless they use some advance space-warp ninjutsu, then we will be really screwed. So far, nothing," Hiroshi answered.

" Just out of curiosity: How would they confirm that I am dead?" Lady Kaguya asked.

" Typical method is to cut off the target's head and present it," Sora answered sleepily, yawning as she spoke before taking another slice of bread. " Hiroshi was smart enough to blow you to smithereens to hide evidence..." Lady Kaguya gave an audible gulp.

" Well, they will just have to confirm the kill, and whoever who leads this shinobi will have to take their word for it," Hiroshi replied. " Alright, if it will make you feel any better, I've set some traps at the site where they last engaged us, because if they suspect you are still alive, that should be the first place they will look. If they do go there, the traps will be set off, and we will be notified about it."

" How so?" Lady Kaguya asked.

" Trade secret. You will have to have faith in my abilities setting traps..." Hiroshi replied, before adding " ...Of course, pray the enemy doesn't have any skill in discovering traps as well..."

" No, it's alright. Your puppet skills are reassuring enough. We did avoid a mess due to your puppetry skills," Lady Kaguya replied.

Hiroshi merely scratched his head sheepishly while Sora scowled. " Well, thanks...but we can't be relying on that anymore," he answered.

Tayu raised an eyebrow in curiosity. " Why not?"

" ...I'm out of puppets," Hiroshi answered.

" What?! Can't you make them?" Tayu asked.

" But I do not have the proper tools with me, and making a puppet under such short time-frames will only make them not up to standard. I'll have to make do without my main weapons for now, but don't expect me to pull another trick like what I did yesterday. I had to expend all the puppets I have to make it work," Hiroshi replied.

" I'm sorry about that..." Lady Kaguya apologised.

" Oh, please don't apologise," Hiroshi replied, turning red. " It's okay, really. I can fix them up again, and it's not like I'm completely hopeless without them..."

Sora merely made a noise under her breath, before taking the last piece of bread and leaving the table. Her moody face and sleepy expression did not leave her as she walked off, probably to wash herself up. The three of the them merely looked at her as she left, Lady Kaguya giving Hiroshi a curious look.

" ...Urm, don't mind her. She does funny things once in a while..." Hiroshi replied.

-

" You aren't worried that they might pick up the scent and come after us this instant?" Makoto asked.

Ryouta merely glanced around to look at him, before turning back to look at the fishermen of the village casting their nets into the nearby river to obtain their daily catch. Hibiki was in the middle of the village, with all the kids from the village surrounding him, apparently playing chase with him. He had placed himself on top of the hut they were staying in, looking at the village.

" Why, are you worried? Makes no difference if we move now or not if they are coming after us, because we aren't in top shape to fight them back. From the looks of it, their shinobi network is fairly large, and we will only be screwed if we move now. Assuming my assumption is right, then we might not need to worry," Ryouta replied. " How are you feeling?"

" Do you really need to ask? I'm fine, really," Makoto replied.

" I'm not referring to physical injuries. I'm confident you can take a beating and still stand," Ryouta said, getting up and walking over to where Makoto was standing, before tapping him on his chest. " I'm talking about your feelings. It's not easy to go up against someone of your own village, more so when he's a personal friend of yours."

Ryouta heard Makoto give an audible gulp, showing signs that he was uncomfortable with this conversation. Ryouta merely walked off, strolling back and forth. Makoto merely kept quiet, his expression keeping as passive as possible.

" I don't really blame you, it must be difficult, and also, I'm appreciative that you all came along to help us regardless. But I need to know that you are resolved to see this through, despite the situation. I cannot afford you to be half-hearted in this fight," Ryouta replied sternly. Makoto still kept quiet. " Oh, come on, you can talk, can't you?"

Makoto gritted his teeth slightly. " I…" he started to speak after a while " …I had thought I had made my final resolve that time when I let Hachi go, but this has to be so untrue. Hibiki is right: I'm weak. Not only did I allow him to betray our village, I am not man enough to face up to him. I hate to admit it but…I guess I was holding back during the fight…"

Ryouta looked at his friend pitifully as Makoto hung his head in shame. Ryouta had never seen Makoto this vulnerable before, but then again, there was always room for the impossible. To think he had to listen to Hiroshi lecture him about his own personal weakness, when to everyone his age, Ryouta was the perfect shinobi, having no chink in the armour he wore.

" Hachi…he was a good friend. We started out in the academy together, it was there where it all began. Come to think of it, it is kinda hilarious to know that he used to look up to me. Hachi, of the puppeteer elite, looking up to me, and look where he is now. Still, he was a good friend of mine, even before I met Hibiki and Suzumi," Makoto replied. " It all took a change when we had to fall for the same girl."

" …Girl?" Ryouta asked, raising his eyebrows.

" Aya, Sakurai Aya. She was a shinobi in our class. Pretty, sassy, out-going, with a nice ass to boot. Yeah, first girl I had a crush on, but not the last," Makoto replied solemnly. Ryouta figured it was hilarious that Makoto could talk about a girl's bum with such a serious face. " Guess it was then when we did have our first fallout, over some girl we both liked. Aya, she was good to both of us, although maybe she was ignorant to the rift she created between us, not that we blame her. It wasn't her fault, but our male pride."

" Then came the crux of the matter: Aya made a dare once, out on a whim, and with some help from our other friends, to pit ourselves against one another in a duel, the winner getting to take her out on a date. To her, I guess it was a mere harmless pank, but to us, it was something close to life and death situation," Makoto replied. " The duel was set in two weeks, and we were to fight on a training ground, with 20 other shinobi kids as witnesses. I don't need to tell you who won, do I?"

" I guess the match boiled down to the person who was more determined to win, and honestly, I think Hachi deserved it. Within two weeks, he mastered the ability to neutralize wind jutsus. Can you imagine that? A kid, not even a full fledged genin, mastering a neutralizing technique so he can go on a date? Hilarious kind of persistence, if you ask me," Makoto replied. " I lost, fair and square, and I admit to it. Aya went on a date with him, part of the joke, but she warmed up to him, and soon enough, they were going out as a couple."

" …So, I guess Hachi leaving the village was because of something that happened to Aya?" Ryouta asked.

" Spot on," Makoto replied, looking at Hibiki, who was still playing with the kids, running around in circles as they tried to catch him. " They were close. I didn't interfere with their affair, even though I would have loved to. Then, that incident happened, and Hachi changed forever."

" Care to tell me about it?" Ryouta asked.

" …Aya was part of the intelligence section, focusing in espionage. Thus, her main training and job area was in the spy networks we had. Kinda dangerous, and we always knew spies have their work cut out for them. It's a personal joke that if you were in the espionage business and have got a baby kid, you've probably lived long enough. Aya knew this, but she didn't really care, and she was good at what she was doing," Makoto replied.

" She was on her maiden mission. Her first ever important mission she had to undertake. She was supposed to get some message across from point A to point B, you know, simple stuff. But things didn't go as well as planned," Makoto replied. " I'm not sure what happened, could have been an information leak, or our network was compromised, but only one thing was made clear: the mission was compromised, and they were under attack."

" …It was so nerve-wrecking. I must have suffered the worst 3 hours in my life…"

" I'm curious as to how you managed to know what exactly happened during the mission. You sound as if you were there yourself. How'd you know it was three hours anyway?" Ryouta asked curiously.

" All connection was cut off, maybe their enemies cut off their radio connections. However, I think Aya was resourceful enough. She probably scrounge up a few supplies somehow to make a makeshift radio. However, the first frequency she transmitted it to was to Hachi," Makoto answered.

Ryouta raised his eyebrows in surprise. " Yeah, neat huh? We used to have some training in making radios, and it was one of Aya and Hachi's favourite games, sending calls to one another. She might have forgotten the headquarter's code, or she might have wanted to hear Hachi's voice at the spur of the moment. Regardless, she contacted him first," Makoto answered.

" The jounins were later called, and I went along, since Hachi made such a fuss about it, so most of the guys and gals from the academy were there as well. The jounins wanted to give her information, but I'm not sure why, but the radio she wired went one way. Whether it was due to the lack of materials, or security reasons, we could only receive messages from her, and we were unable to send messages to her," Makoto replied. " So, we sat down and listened to her talk. She talked about how the mission went bad, how they were ambushed, how here friends were slowly cut down one by one until she was the last one left."

" Let me guess: she decided to terminate herself than run the risk of having information fall into the enemy hands, and the Sand were unable to mount as rescue, due to...well, security reasons," Ryouta replied.

Makoto merely clicked his tongue in response. " The cliché scenario, Ryouta, but no. The Sands were ever ready to mount a rescue team, and she was not holding any important information at all," Makoto replied.

" ...What? Then what happened then that made Hachi want to leave?" Ryouta asked.

" ...Something...very painful..." Makoto replied.

-

_Sometime two years ago_

Makoto waited patiently at the corner of the alley, waiting for the next radio transmission. There was an entire crowd now crowding around Hachi, who was holding onto the only item that could tell them what was happening to Aya's team: an old, square radio. Aya managed to contact Hachi through the old radio, and had been talking to him in general for a while.

Almost three hours ago, Makoto saw Hachi in a frenzy, running through the streets with a box radio in his hands, shouting for help. Makoto had wondered what it was when he tried to contact the jounins of the village. It appeared that someone had ambushed Aya's team on their first mission under the espionage section, and she had managed to connect through to him through this old radio using old transmitting techniques. Soon, most of the jounins of the village had been informed, and they were now surrounding Hachi. Earlier, they demanded Hachi to hand over the radio, but he was adamant in wanting to have it. Thus, he somehow situated himself in the village square, where now he was surrounded by other shinobi, young and old, listening to the radio message.

Aya had not given her position, so it was difficult for them to find her, but it was probably because of security reasons why she didn't disclose her position. Analysts were working on tracking where the radio frequency was coming from, so they could locate her and extract her from danger.

" We've zeroed on her location. We might be able to get to her in time. Two teams have already been sent to the place..." one of the jounins whispered. Another nodded, while others moved about. Makoto didn't care in the least. All he was interested in was the lone radio Hachi was holding, waiting for a voice he hoped would call again.

Hachi sat down in the middle of the village square, holding the radio in his hands. It looked like a precious artifact to him. It looked like he had been crying a bit. The whole crowd at the square looked apprehensively at the radio he was holding, as if it was a ticking time-bomb.

A sudden cackle made him jump, and the crowd seem to recoil slightly. The radio was coming back on again, and the static noise it was was rather unnerving. Hachi held the thing in his hands, patiently waiting to hear her voice once more, as did Makoto. It took a while before someone spoke.

" Hey, Hachi, you still there?" a raspy voice, laced with fatigue asked. It sounded so rough and hard, but there was no mistaking Aya's voice. " I know you are still there. You wouldn't leave right? Glad to know you are still listening to me. I'm glad. Thanks..."

" I won't leave, you know I won't," Hachi replied, although there was no way Aya could have heard his reply.

" ...They are still around us. We had to move, but they are persistent. We might need to move again soon, but we are safe for now. So much for my first mission, huh? I might need to give the Kazekage a piece of my mind when I get back...assuming that I do get back," Aya replied, breathing heavily.

There were a few chuckles within the crowd, and Hachi smiled slightly at the joke Aya pulled despite the situation. " ...Huh, an update, huh? Well, nothing much...Kotsuma didn't make it..." Aya replied.

There was complete silence from the crowd, and Makoto merely frowned.

" He...he was a good guy, do remember him as such. He...he tried...to buy us time for us to escape...I saw him...they...they..." Aya gasped, her voice shaking, unable to continue. Makoto figured she might be crying at this point.

" It's okay..." Hachi pleaded through the radio. " It's okay...don't cry..."

" How long have we been on the run? 4 hours, maybe more...I don't know..."

" 2 hours and 43 minutes..." Hachi answered.

" Might be less, might be more. I've lost track of time anyway. It's just been a long day..." Aya replied.

" I know...just...just hold on a little more...the rescue team is going to get there...just hold on..." Hachi whispered.

" ...Urm, sorry to keep you occupied for so long. I bet you've been holding the radio since I contacted you, huh? Talking seems to be the only thing that's keeping me sane for now...I might have cracked by then...you are listening to me, aren't you? You should, because I know you are receiving this call...too bad you can't talk back, huh?" Aya replied, chuckling. Her voice seemed to calm down now, and so did her breathing.

" Yeah...too bad..." Hachi replied.

There was a moment of silence.

" Oh, I totally forgot, why don't you say something, Kana? You are the only one who hasn't said anything yet..." Aya replied.

" ...Eh? ...no need..." another female voice replied.

" Don't be shy. I bet your parents want to hear your voice, no?"

" ...Erm...but...you're talking to Hachi," Kana answered.

" Don't worry. Knowing him, he's probably caused such a ruckus, the whole village must be listening to our conversation now," Aya answered.

Makoto had a give a smile for that comment. Aya just knew Hachi too well.

" ...Urm, okay...uh...hi...mom, dad..." Kana replied.

There was a loud wail from the crowd, and a middle aged woman moved through the crowd, before kneeling in front of Hachi. " Kana, my baby...my baby girl...Mommy's here..." the woman sobbed.

" Uh...sorry to make you worry...guess Kana is always a klutz, huh?" Kana replied.

" It's okay...mommy forgives you, mommy always does..." the woman sobbed, tears streaming down her face.

" I...I love you mommy, you too daddy...I..."

The message was suddenly interrupted by a sudden sharp noise, before radio static hit. Makoto wasn't sure if most of them had realised it by now, but he had managed to hear the distinct sound of flesh being ripped apart. From the level of the noise, perhaps someone got a limb torn off, or something close. The whole crowd hold their breath at the sudden interruption, fearing for the worst. Makoto didn't know what to make of it. He just prayed it was Kana who was attacked.

However, he then realised how sick his thinking was. Was Kana any more deserving of such a fate than Aya? Kana had friends and family waiting for her as well. Makoto felt it was wrong to hope Kana could just take Aya's place as an offering for the grim reaper.

"Geez, what's this?" a voice asked.

Makoto turned around, only to see Hibiki and Suzumi standing behind him. He then remembered that he was supposed to meet them at the training grounds, only to be diverted by Aya's sudden call to Hachi. They must have been looking for him for a while.

" Sorry...Aya managed to get a transmission in telling us that her mission went bad..." Makoto replied, pointing towards Hachi who was holding the radio.

Suzumi merely gasped and held her hands over her mouth. Hibiki frowned in concern, before asking " No shit...what's her status now?"

"...It doesn't look too good..." Makoto replied.

The radio suddenly cackled back to life, the connection restored. The crowed watched with bated breath, waiting for a response. " ...Hey...I'm back...sorry for the...interruption...Kana didn't...make it..." Aya replied, gasping heavily.

Kana's mother gave a wail of despair, clutching her head while she wailed loudly. Two men stepped up to her and tried to calm her down, one of them probably her husband. She wouldn't stop crying, now knowing her daughter was gone for good. Makoto didn't like the sound of what he was hearing on the radio. From the sound of her breathing, Makoto suspected that she had been seriously wounded.

" ...Shit...guess they...got us good...I was careless..." Aya gasped, her voice fading slightly.

" No, Aya! Just hold on! The rescue team is coming! They will be there shortly! Just hold on!" Hachi replied, practically screaming into the radio.

"...Tell them not to come..."

Hachi stopped, as if in shock. " What? No...what are you talking about...?"

" Hachi...if you...are still listening...what am I talking about...you are listening..." she spoke, her voice sounding like she was in pain now. " Tell the rescue team not to come...tell them not to come..."

" Why?! Why!? They are almost there! Just a few more minutes!" Hachi yelled.

" Tell them...not to come...don't come...too dangerous...don't..." Aya gasped.

" I don't understand! Why?! Why not?!" Hachi demanded, but Aya offered no explanation.

"...My time is up...I need to do one last thing...Hachi...I'm so sorry..." Aya replied softly.

" No!"

" Don't cry...I've still got something to do...one more fight, I guess..."

" No! No! No!" Hachi screamed, banging his fist on the ground.

" ...You know...I want to say...thank you...for the present..." Aya replied, her voice now reduced to a whisper.

Hachi suddenly looked at the radio in surprise, the look on his face telling him that he didn't know what she was talking about.

" Your present...for me...you haven't given it to me...yet...but I know...under your bed, in a blue box...I saw it...sorry, Hachi, I just...couldn't help myself," Aya whispered while Hachi merely looked at the radio speaking to him. " I've...told you...so many times...I don't...like the colour pink...so many times..."

" I'm sorry...I'm sorry Aya. Please, I'm sorry. Just come back. I promise I'll never get anything pink for you again. I swear! Just come back!" Hachi cried, tears running down his cheek " I won't even say the word pink anymore. Just come back!"

" ..."

" Aya, say something!" Hachi screamed.

" But you know...if you say I look good in pink...it should be true, huh?...I take your word for it, Hachi..." Aya whispered. " ...the broach...it was...so very nice..."

" I don't care! Just come back! Don't die!"

" ...I look good in pink, right?...girls should like pink..." Aya replied. " Thank you, Hachi, for everything...Yui, Suzumi, Akane, Chigusa, Mayuri, Sakurai, Nagato...thank you for being there...for me...always..."

Several sobs came from the crowd. Suzumi was sniffing as well, trying not to cry.

" ...Oh, Makoto too...take care of Hachi for me, will you?" Aya replied.

" No, you cannot die! Please, I'm sorry! I won't argue with you, I won't say anything bad, I won't pull any more jokes! Just...just come back alive!" Hachi cried.

" ...You are still...there, right Hachi?" Aya whispered.

" ...Yes..." Hachi replied, his voice choking with emotion.

" ...I love you, Hachi..." she whispered, before cutting off the transmission on her side.

Hachi started to wail loudly, screaming in a voice Makoto didn't think was humanly possible. Some of the jounins had to calm him down by force, because he was hitting everything and everyone that stood in his way. Hibiki merely watched as Makoto left before either he or Suzumi could see the tears fall from his almost blind eyes.

-

" Apparently from what I heard later, after Aya cut the connection from us, she made some last ditch effort to attack her pursuers in order to leave some clues to who they were and where they were headed off to next, to leave information for our tracking team...a final noble sacrifice, which was kind pointless," Makoto answered. " We found out that they were Rock-nins, and after going back to their country, we only received word that these people had been dealt with. The word of the Rock-nins, that was all we had for justice to be served for Aya's death. Saying the Rock's were lying would result in war. We could not afford that, even if we somehow knew the Rock's were lying to us."

" So, why did she reject the rescue mission?" Ryouta asked. " ...Unless she was trying to hide some information or..."

" Ryouta, to be honest, the mission she took was not a mission at all. It was in fact a training mission," Makoto replied. " She held not important documents, and was not on an official mission. There was no such information in which she needed to desperately conceal. Why she rejected the rescue team was beyond me. Maybe because she figured that they were affiliated with the Rock's, and killing them would cause the Rocks to interfere, and wage war. That might have been the reason why she asked us not to come....it's the only possible scenario we could come up with..."

" It was a hollow death. She was just at the wrong place, at the wrong time, facing the wrong enemy. She died a death to leave us a clue, only to tell us that her death will never find justice without the sacrifice of many Sand-nin lives through war," Makoto replied. " It wasn't the villages fault, but Hachi could never accept it. He became jaded and hurt inside, with a wound that would never heal. Aya meant everything to him. Losing her was tantamount to losing his reason to stay as a shinobi...that's why he left..."

" ...I'm sorry to hear that..." Ryouta replied. " It must be hard on you..."

" I guess..." Makoto replied.

" Then you will leave him to us," Ryouta replied.

Makoto looked at him in surprise. " What are you talking about?"

" Hiroshi suggested it would be too painful to kill a friend of yours, so we will do it for you. And honestly, he's right. No one can kill someone important to them so easily. Hiroshi suggested we take that burden for you, and I agree," Ryouta replied. " In return, he only asks for your forgiveness, and hopes that you will not hate him for what he might do to Hachi."

Makoto merely looked at Ryouta in surprise. " Thanks for sharing the story with me..." Ryouta replied, leaping off the roof, before walking towards Hibiki, who was still playing with the kids.


	20. Chapter 19: Challenge

**Chapter 19: Challenge**

Hiroshi yawned loudly as he waited for the rest of them. Another day had passed, and so far, no enemies in sight. Hiroshi was hopeful that their pursuers have been convinced Lady Kaguya had been dealt with, and have backed off from the chase. If so, their road ahead was clear, presumably.

" Tired?" Ryouta asked, stepping out from behind the hut. It looked like he had just taken a shower, from the smell he exudated and the look of his slightly wet hair. He held a pack on his back, filled with some supplies. Ryouta managed to sneak back towards the combat site and scavenge some supplies since they used up a number of their weapons and supplies during the previous fight, especially Hiroshi's puppets.

" Kinda, but I'm good to go. How about the rest of them?" Hiroshi asked.

" The only person we need to worry about is you, and only you. Do remember that," Sora's sarcastic voice entered the conversation. She walked out of the hut, her face in a sour mood.

" Hey, who was the person who saved your ass couple of days back...ack!?"

Sora ran up to him and grabbed him from behind, choking him as she gripped him tight in a strangle-hold. " Cheeky in the morning now, are we? I'll teach you..." Sora replied, strangling Hiroshi.

" Ack, sorry..let me go now!" Hiroshi pleaded.

" Sora, let him go. I'd rather not waste another day waiting for him to recover," Ryouta replied.

" Tch, why can't you people let me have some fun once in a while?" Sora replied, releasing Hiroshi.

" Geez, beating up people for fun? At this rate..."

Sora suddenly cracked her fingers, and the sound rang through the air like a sharp whip. " ...You know what, I should shut up right now," Hiroshi told himself.

" Fighting already?" Suzumi asked, walking out with Lady Kaguya and Tayu.

" Well, it's not like you don't know Sora," Hiroshi mused.

" Alright, all of us are now gathered here," Makoto replied, as he exited the hut with Kira, with Hibiki coming out behind them. " Shall we be moving?"

" We should. The old formation stays. Sora, you carry Lady Kaguya first," Ryouta replied. Sora knelt down slightly, and Lady Kaguya climbed on her back, before Sora swiftly lifted her up.

" You know, I was thinking, now would be a very good time to tease you, since you can't beat while holding Lady Kaguya in your hands," Hiroshi replied. Sora merely snarled menacingly back at him, before all of them departed, with Ryouta leading the way.

-

" Anyone following us?" Ryouta asked.

" Not that I know of...expecting company?" Makoto asked.

" Perhaps..." Ryouta mused.

All of them had been moving for a while, and it was pass noon already. They made some progress with their travels, and if they were lucky, they would be able to hit the Grass nation border by tomorrow morning. Once that happens, they would be safe, or so they presume. Their goal was close, so close.

" Hey, don't jinx us," Tayu pleaded, carrying Lady Kaguya this time around.

" I'm not jinxing us at all, I'm just being...paranoid might be a good word," Ryouta replied.

" Try not to worry too much," Hibiki replied. " Besides, it's bad for health."

" You? Worried about my health?" Ryouta asked, raising his eyebrows.

" Tch, why not?" Hibiki asked.

" Life expectancy increases by 15% when you take a leader's post, statistically proven. If there is anyone who should be worried here, it should be you," Ryouta replied. " ...Just joking. Worry about fighting the enemy when they do arrive, and I'll deal with the rest, alright?"

" Hey, are we eating anytime soon?" Sora asked.

" Wait, you just ate snacks during our last break!" Hiroshi exclaimed.

" Hey, lunch is important, you know? Second most important meal of the day, coming after breakfast," Sora commented.

" ...Your baffling logic aside, are you seriously hungry?" Hiroshi asked.

" Yes, I am. Do you even need to ask?!" Sora replied, making a face.

" Well, it is already past noon. Should we stop and get something to eat?" Hiroshi asked.

" Why not? We'll stop here," Ryouta replied.

They reached a small clearing around the woods they were traveling within. Tayu placed Lady Kaguya gently on the ground, while Hiroshi and Hibiki set off together to look for something to eat, perhaps some forest fruits and roots. Sora and Suzumi merely sat down and waited patiently for the boys to return with something to eat.

" I'm hungry..." Sora groaned.

" Give them time, Sora. They just left to find something to eat. A minute hasn't passed yet," Suzumi replied. Sora merely grumbled under her breath, before rocking her body to and fro. Suzumi merely sighed at her attitude. It took a few minutes before Hibiki and Hiroshi returned, with food in their arms.

" Right we are back...hmm, wonder how we can cook these..."

" Forget cooking, we need to leave," Makoto suddenly exclaimed.

Hiroshi dropped his supplies that he held in his hands after hearing Makoto speak, looking slightly dazed in shock.

" You..." Hiroshi gasped.

" How many?" Ryouta asked, jumping to his feet.

" 8, at the very least," Makoto replied, before turning to Ryouta. " You were expecting this, weren't you?"

" I guess so. I guess this confirms my suspicions that they are tracking us somehow," Ryouta replied.

" Tracking? How..."

" Alright, listen, all of you. Don't you find it strange that they seem to be able to find us all the time. Not only that, they seem to be able to zoom in on our position, even if we are on the move, with precision. They even managed to set up a trap ahead of us. Now, I'm not sure about you guys, but this feels like some very advance tracking abilities," Ryouta replied.

" This is going to sound stupid, and crazy, but bear with me, alright. I wish to experiment," Ryouta replied. " Split into your pairs, Hiroshi and Hibiki will take Lady Kaguya. Move back towards where we came from."

" Alright, let's...wait, back? Just in case you didn't know, back is where they are coming from," Makoto reminded him.

" I know that," Ryouta replied calmly.

The rest of them looked at him as if he had gone nuts. Tayu took the initiative and grabbed him by the lapels of his shirt, pulling him up slightly. " Listen, have you blown your rocker, or something equivalent? Are you asking us to walk into the enemy?!" she demanded.

" What should we do? Run? That's what we did for the least three times, or attempted to do, before they caught up with us. Doing the same thing this time would eventually result in the same thing," Ryouta answered. " Besides, I'm still sane, I can assure you that much."

Hiroshi stepped between them and pried them apart. " Come on, trust him. Ryouta isn't one to do stupid things, you should know by now," Hiroshi replied. " Ryouta, you are serious, right?"

" I am. Can you trust me?" Ryouta asked.

" Of course," Hiroshi replied.

" Alright, let's do this," Hibiki replied. Lady Kaguya gave a cry of surprise when Hibiki suddenly picked her up and slung her over his shoulders. " Sorry for being crude...you can blame the circumstances."

" Hey, you punk, watch how you carry Lady Kaguya! Get your fingers off her this instant!" Tayu exclaimed, ready to burst in rage.

" We have discussed the map of the area last night, so you should still remember. Set on your short range radios to keep in contact. I'll contact the rest of you with further information later. Also, just move normally, don't use any chakra enhancing movements," Ryouta replied All of them split up as per Ryouta's order, Suzumi giving Hiroshi one last worried look, before following Ryouta on their path.

" I hate to admit it, but Ryouta's plan sounds crazy," Hibiki replied. " First, we walk towards the enemy, slowly...then what? I can't see the logic in this."

" Well then, explain the logic on how they seem to be finding us," Hiroshi replied.

" Huh?"

" Look, you should have noticed by now. These guys only seem to find us when we are on the move," Hiroshi replied.

Hibiki and Lady Kaguya shot him a curious look. " On all occasions when we were attacked, we were on the move, or was, before they caught up with us shortly. This one is no exception as well. They seem to have been waiting for us, and they seemed to have moved right after we left. Now, this goes under the assumption that they knew Lady Kaguya, or later realised, that she isn't dead. Don't you find it weird? If they knew, then what was stopping them from finding us in the city we were in?" Hiroshi explained.

" So, they seem to be tracking us when we move, and only when we move...but how is that possible, and what weird method is this?" Hibiki asked.

" All will be revealed soon, I believe. I think Ryouta wishes to test his theory," Hiroshi replied.

" 'Halt'"

Hiroshi and Hibiki stopped moving. Ryouta's voice crackled through the radio, speaking to them.

" 'Hide yourself, and don't move until I tell you to,'" Ryouta's voice spoke once more.

" Hide, does he want us to dig a hole or what?" Hibiki sighed. He placed Lady Kaguya on the ground. Looking carefully around, he suddenly motion to them to move towards one of the trees. Pressing them upon one of the trunk of the tree, Hibiki suddenly flipped his hands, forming a few hand seals quickly. Hiroshi wasn't too sure what he was doing, but from the feeling of a slight layer of chakra being sprinkled over him, he figured Hibiki had done some jutsu to cover them, probably some variant of a henge jutsu. " Right, try not to breathe too much, okay?" he continued, grinning slightly.

It didn't take too long, but it will always feel like time slows down when one waits. Hiroshi could hear their pursuers coming, not bothering to hide their presence. However, they did slow down considerably, going pass their area. Thankfully, they didn't seem to stop by, or bother to wait and check the area. They were gone before they knew it, and Hibiki broke the jutsu and took a quick peek around.

" Looks like they are gone. Should we move?" Hibiki asked.

" Ryouta asked us to wait for his signal. So, we wait, while keeping an eye on things," Hiroshi replied.

Hibiki didn't wish to argue, so he waited patiently, his senses keeping vigil for any presence of the enemy. Nothing happened for a while, but they didn't dare move too much. Lady Kaguya looked around worriedly, wondering if someone might pop up from the bushes, or the nearby tree. Shinobis are known to be sneaky anyway, but it's not like she can spot danger before Hiroshi or Hibiki. If they cannot sense it, then she wouldn't be able to.

A sudden crackle of noise from their radio, Ryouta's signal to them, after what felt like 5 long minutes.

" 'You guys there?'" his voice came on.

" Yeah, still in one piece," Hibiki answered.

" 'Alright, I need you guys...'"

His radio transmission was cut short by a scream which made Hiroshi's hair stand on its end, because it sounded like it came from Suzumi. This was then quickly followed up by a massive sound of an explosion, coming from the radio itself and an area towards their right, where they could see a bright flare expanding from an explosion, with billows of smoke spiraling up towards the sky, before they lost contact on the radio.

" Shit, were they ambushed?!" Hiroshi exclaimed loudly.

" Wait!" Hibiki exclaimed, seeing Hiroshi about to rush towards the blast. " It might be a bad idea to rush there."

" Why?! They are in trouble, Hibiki. They will need our help!" Hiroshi exclaimed angrily.

" But you are not thinking straight! We have Lady Kaguya with us. If we rush to them, then we would only be getting her closer to the enemy. I dunno about you, but if anything, we need to make some distance between ourselves," Hibiki replied.

" I can't just leave them!" Hiroshi retorted.

" Well, we cannot exactly run into the enemy with a present in hand!" Hibiki answered.

" Screw that!" Hiroshi shouted back.

All of a sudden, Hiroshi ran off towards the direction of the explosion, leaving Hibiki behind. Hibiki merely stared after him as he ran off, leaving both of them behind. " Impulsive brat..." Hibiki muttered.

" I don't mind actually...shouldn't you go and help your comrades as well?" Lady Kaguya asked as well.

" I can't exactly leave you here alone," Hibiki muttered.

" Then take me with you..."

" Are you nuts!? Why the..."

" If you take me along, you'll be able to keep an eye on me, while being able to help your friends out. I don't see it as too bad of an idea, and honestly, I feel bad if we left them by themselves," Lady Kaguya replied.

Hibiki merely glared at her, before shrugging his shoulders. " ...I'm...not going to argue about it," he replied, picking her up before heading quickly towards the direction of where Hiroshi ran off towards.

-

Sora and Makoto were the first on the scene of the site of attack. A mob of shinobi had ambushed Ryouta and Suzumi at where they were. Sora launched herself towards the first shinobi she saw, who had managed to pin Suzumi down on the ground. The shinobi leaped back when he saw her advancing towards her at breakneck speed, her hand dangerously coming close to strike him with deadly precision.

" Sora, Makoto!" Suzumi exclaimed in surprise.

" Sorry, punks, but we are here to crash the party!" Sora shouted vehemently.

Tayu and Kira arrived from the north, but their situation was still a dire one as they were outnumbered. There were at least 10 shinobis surrounding them. Even if Hiroshi and Hibiki were to arrive, and Ryouta suspected that they would, despite it being favourable for Lady Kaguya to leave, they would still be hard pressed to hold back this force, not to mention having recently recovered as well.

" Guys!" Hiroshi shouted as he burst through one of the trees.

" Idiot, you should have left with Lady Kaguya!" Suzumi shouted back at him.

" Wasn't my idea. I suggested we left, but as per usual, nobody likes to listen to me ramble anyway..." Hibiki sighed. Ryouta saw him come up from behind, carrying Lady Kaguya on his back, setting her down and standing proudly like some human shield in front of her once she had her feet firmly on the ground.

" Hmph, this is perfect...they've brought our target to us. Now, all we need is to eliminate the target here and we are done," one of the shinobis replied, drawing his weapon. His companions followed suit, preparing their weapons or their jutsus, ready to strike whenever the chance arose, or when the signal was given. He looked towards his left towards a kunoichi who stood on one of the branches, with her hands arrogantly placed on her hips, and asked " Shall we strike?"

Sora narrowed her eyes slightly as she spotted the same kunoichi she had seen in their previous encounters: Akane. Sora merely growled under her breath as she grinned at all of them mischeviously, as if contemplating on how she should take care of this problem. If enemy reinforcements were to arrive, they would be screwed instantly.

" I think not..." she answered.

All of them there looked at her curiously, even her own comrades. Ryouta wasn't sure what she had in mind, so he was wary with what she was up to. But seeing the confused looks on her comrade's faces did make him drop his guard a little. Perhaps there was some trick to this, but something that would work to their advantage.

" You know, personally, I don't give a shit whether Lady Kaguya dies or not. We can lose or win for all I care, really," Akane replied.

All of them merely kept quiet, waiting for her to finish her reasoning.

" Alright, chumps, let's make a deal. Considering your position, I don't think it is too bad of a deal," Akane declared.

" ...What do you plan on offering?" Ryouta asked suspiciously.

" This is what I want, a single wish. If you would grant me a death-match between Sora and I, uninterrupted, not only will I incapacitate these idiots with me, I'll tell you how to escape to the Grass border without being detected, or with the least amount of detection," Akane replied.

There was a sudden uproar between their ranks. " Akane, you plan on betraying the group?!" one of them demanded in a loud voice.

Sora didn't hesitate. She took a bold step forward, before proudly proclaiming " I accept your challenge!"

The rest of their enemies didn't wait, as they immediately jumped off the trees the instant Sora finished her statement. However, Akane flicked out something from her pocket, and squeezed it hard. Hiroshi figured it was a trigger mechanism of sorts, since all of a sudden, the area around them suddenly burst into a haze of purple smoke. His first reaction was to think it was poison, and he tried his best not to inhale the gas, but he didn't seem to feel any side effects despite having taken it in a bit.

However, the same cannot be said for the enemy, for now all of them, save for Akane herself, were choking on their vomit, convulsing violently as soon as they breathed in a little of the purple gas. Akane smiled happily as she watched them die horribly in front of her, not even flinching as they gasped their last, their stiff, rigid bodies lying on the ground. The rest of them looked at her as she jumped off from the branch and landed in front of them. Ryouta prepared himself, but Sora suddenly stopped him, grabbing his arm tightly.

" Sora...?" he mused.

" Don't...it was a promise for a one-on-one. Let me deal with her..." Sora replied.

" Don't be silly. I don't think I understand what in the world she was doing, but she made it easy for us. Let's just beat the crap out of her and scram!" Hibiki exclaimed.

Hibiki prepped his spear, and Hiroshi flicked out two windmill shurikens. At the same exact time, both of them leaped at Akane, with the full intent to kill. However, Hiroshi felt a sudden movement, not before something hit him hard on his cheek. Both Hibiki and Hiroshi were tossed backwards, crashing into trees.

" Sora, have you gone nuts!?" Makoto exclaimed. Sora had suddenly jumped in-between her friends and Akane, punching both Hiroshi and Hibiki backwards. She displayed an expression Suzumi could only describe as seething rage.

" No, I have not, but have you?" she asked.

"...What?"

" Akane's promise. Do you intend to break it?" Sora asked. " She requested a one-on-one match, with me. I could care less for the reason she did it, but she did a favour for us. I don't know about you guys, but personally, I hate breaking promises, even if they are towards an enemy."

" But...!" Hiroshi exclaimed.

" Then think of it this way: if you compromised yourself, or your country, for the sake of saving someone who was in the hands of the enemy, and they did not keep their promise, wouldn't you feel hurt by this betrayal? The same applies here. Akane sacrificed the rest of her comrades for the sake of a promise. Leaf-nins keep to their words, even if it does mean their death," Sora proudly proclaimed.

" So, you will fight me?" Akane asked gleefully.

" Well...not until you fulfill your final part of your offer," Sora answered carefully.

" My, still suspicious, are we? Very well, I'll tell you," Akane answered cockily. " Do you know what a chakra-sensing shinobi is?"

Ryouta merely frowned at those words. _Figures...my guess was right on the money..._ he thought to himself.

" A what?" Hiroshi asked.

" A chakra-sensing shinobi, you idiot," Akane repeated herself.

" Basically, it's a shinobi with a special ability to sense chakra, or people. Think of it to be something like Makoto's hearing ability, but without the use of his sense of sound. A perfect radar that can track people and their movements over several kilometers. If she is suggesting that they have a chakra-sensing shinobi, then it would explain why they could track us all the time," Ryouta explained.

" But...but...if they have someone of that caliber in their ranks, how the hell are we supposed to make it to the border without being detected?" Suzumi asked.

" Walk..."

All of them turned to Akane, who had spoke up. She was smiling happily at them, a hand by her hips and a finger in the air as if trying to tell them something.

" Walk?" Tayu mused.

" Walk. The person can only sense people when they move. The main difference between a shinobi, and a normal person is their movement speed. Shinobis utilise chakra to allow them to travel at faster speeds, leaping through forests and moving over plains way much faster than a normal person could achieve even by running. If they have a shinobi who can sense movement, most certainly 8 of us travelling at such speeds would only make us an easy target to spot," Ryouta explained. " However, if we slow down and walk at the speed of normal people, what is there for them to sense? We would be moving like normal people do, and there should be a number of civilians traveling these roads."

" It seems like your leader had already figured it out, on the most part...I must give it up to him," Akane replied. " Now, I kept my end of the bargain, right? Will you keep yours?"

" There shall not be any question about it," Sora replied.

She suddenly felt someone grab her hand, and looking to her right, she saw Ryouta next to her, almost breathing down on her face. "...I...I don't like this...I know what you are doing is right, and noble, but...you..."

" Hey, what other alternative do we have? Risk certain death, or sacrifice one of us for the rest to escape? I'm just a logical person, straight and true. You are right in saying I don't think much, but then again, what is there to think about?" Sora responded.

" ...I'm not comfortable with you just leaving us here to die. I know honour means a lot to you, but..." Ryouta started.

" Hey, who ever said I was going to die here?" Sora muttered angrily.

Ryouta suddenly raised an eyebrow in surprise. " What...?"

" I'm going to have a one-on-one duel, beat the crap out of her, and catch up with you all. Now, honestly, that doesn't sound too bad now, does it?" Sora asked. " You guys go on ahead and leave us alone. I've got a promise to keep, and a person to beat up. Guess I am on a roll today!"

" You can't be serious..." Ryouta muttered.

" Oh, but I am...but thanks for your damn concern anyway...not that I would really need it, really," Sora replied, tightening her grip, her knuckles cracking under the strain. " You guys go on ahead, I'll catch up soon enough."

" But...!" Hiroshi exclaimed.

Ryouta stopped him, holding out his hand to stop Hiroshi's advance, despite not wishing for such a thing to come to pass. " She's right in a way. The enemy did help us. It is only befitting that we do the same," he answered softly.

" You can't expect me to leave her here!" Hiroshi exclaimed.

" ...You know, Hiroshi, at times like these, the only thing you can do is have faith in your friends. Trust in Sora to win," Ryouta replied, before dropping his hand. " Well, I'm not going to hang around this place any longer. If the enemy wishes to do as she pleases, it's fine. Come on, guys, we leave. Sora will catch up with us in a minute."

All of them turned their backs towards Sora one by one, leaving the area, almost all of them doing it rather reluctantly. Lady Kaguya looked worriedly at Sora, but Tayu pulled her away. The last one was Hiroshi, who still had his eyes trained on Sora's back as she stood firm and still, facing off against Akane in a promised duel.

" Go, it's not like I want you to be here," Sora muttered coldly. Hiroshi merely nodded, before turning around and leaving the place, leaving the two of them behind.


	21. Chapter 20: Sora vs Akane

**Chapter 20: Sora vs. Akane**

" I'm surprised, and touched, by the fact that you decided to stay behind. Pray tell me, is this due to some foolish pride you Leafs hold so dear, or is it that arrogance that I seem to admire so much coming from someone like you?" Akane asked, cracking her knuckles as she slowly slipped out several senbon needles from her pack, although from the distance Sora was standing, it was unclear if they were poisoned or not.

" Maybe a bit of both...I hate being in debt, especially towards an enemy, so I'd like to pay my dues in full, right here, right now!" Sora exclaimed, slamming her fists powerfully, the sound of her hands hitting one another making a loud resounding thud. Akane noticed that Sora slipped out her fingerless gloves before unwinding the bandages on her hands, dropping them aside, before slipping her gloves back on.

" Hoh, did you remove some limiter of yours?" Akane snickered.

" In a way, yes. My taijutsu techniques deal a lot of damage to my body if used excessively, so Hiroshi made a special bandage to reduce the damage by dampening the effects of the shocks I can create with this fists. It reduces the damage done, but it keeps my bones intact for a longer period of time," Sora answered. " However, I don't think I'll be needing it in this match. Time to go all out!"

" I wouldn't have it any other way," Akane laughed.

Sora looked behind her. Her comrades were long gone, and she could not even feel their presence. She felt more comfortable now. She could have just gone along with what they suggested, but she wouldn't have none of it. Akane was a little psychotic, but honest. If there was anything Sora took pride in the most, it was keeping a promise. She didn't feel angry or spite about her friends leaving, but felt sorry for leaving them in such a fashion. Well, it wasn't as if she was going to let them down anyway. She would finish this match and catch up with them. A perfect win for them this time, if she could say so herself.

Of course, she would have to beat Akane first of all.

" Do you want a change in position, or will this place suffice?" Akane asked.

" What's with the sudden generosity?" Sora asked.

" It would be more fun if you could really fight at your best, so perhaps you might have a suitable area to fight in your mind," Akane answered.

" There is no point. My fists are my weapon. I can fight anywhere and anytime," Sora answered.

Akane burst out in a fit of laughter, seemingly enjoying herself. " Yes, I would not have it any other way," she replied.

Both combatants merely squared each other up, not moving an inch. In such a situation, the first move may be the decisive factor, and a false move from the beginning could easily mean the death of a shinobi. There can not be any mistakes in the first attack, none at all. Sora had to agree that the tension was killing her somewhat.

" Tell me, why do you want to fight me so much?" Sora asked.

" What? You don't feel the same way?" Akane asked. Sora didn't reply, but merely looked at her. " It's a thrill, you must agree with me as well. Both of us live to fight, it runs in our blood. We seek the thrill, the adrenaline rush you can only achieve by coming within inches from death. We naturally seek each other out, you and I. If it were under different circumstances, we would be rivals to the very end."

" I don't know about you, but there is this...thing, something I cannot explain, which gives me a thrill when I match fists with you. Perhaps we are both hot-blooded, slightly psychotic bitches just looking for a fight. It...gives me no higher pleasure. You...complete me..." Akane replied.

" Well then," Sora exclaimed, with some excitement in her voice. " I'll do my best not to disappoint!"

It took less than the span of one second, but Sora disappeared from the spot she stood on before. Akane turned her head in an instant, spotting Sora flying towards her with a spinning kick aimed directly for her head. She dropped to her knees and jumped away to avoid the imminent threat. The battle had started, and it was going to be a fight to the death.

Sora had no idea what compelled her to accept such a dangerous proposal. Certainly, if she had not done so, it might be the bodies of her comrades and not the enemies that will be lying scattered all over the forest floor right now as both girls battled it out in a frenzied battle right now. Still, she had to question herself as to why she accepted this challenge. Was it for revenge? A show of bravely and pride? Or was she just being plain rash as per usual?

There was barely any time to think about it. The next attack was coming.

Sora skidded to a halt, grinding her left leg hard onto the ground to stop her advance, before spinning around in a 180 degree arc, going back to face Akane. Senbon needles flew past her at high speeds, thrown by trained hands. Sora avoided them all, twisting her body around to avoid being hit, the needles passing harmlessly by her as she managed to avoid every single one. Akane burst towards her, swinging her hands at her face. Sora raised her right hand to catch Akane's punch.

All of a sudden, something slammed into her left cheek, hard.

The sudden surprise strike knocked her silly, throwing her several meters backwards, rolling on the ground hard, making her head go dizzy. She quickly shook off she stupor, before jumping away just as Akane threw a bottle in her direction, spraying acid all over the spot she previously stood on. Akane didn't give her time to assess the situation, as she came flying towards her. Several meters away from her, she kicked off from the ground, before executing a flying kick.

Sora observed her attack carefully. Fighting her twice before gave her ample time to study her fighting style, especially the taijutsu aspect of her attacks. She watched as she kicked off the ground, before her body started to spin as Akane pulled a twist to build momentum. The spin came a split second too slow, and Sora could calculate it will lack speed to reach her in time. She raised her left hand to intercept the blow, prepared to launch a counter-strike.

However, something hard slammed right at her right jaw.

Sora staggered back in pain, her head spinning after being hit twice. She felt one of her teeth become loose, and she spat it out along with the blood mixed with it. A missing tooth was nothing, she could fix that later. She needed to find out how Akane seemed to be slipping through her grip.

" Heh, my attacks too fast, or are you being lazy today?" Akane replied.

" Neither," Sora replied, pulling out a kunai.

" Oh, and how do you think that kunai is going to work in your favour in beating me?" Akane asked.

" ...Whoever said it was for you?" Sora muttered, grinning broadly.

Without hesitating, Sora stabbed the kunai to the base of her left hand, piercing through her flesh and spraying her blood on the ground. Akane looked in shock, not at the audacity of her actions, but her methods.

Sora figured she was being tricked, and knowing Akane full-well, it was probably poison. Thus, some sort of poison, administered in some form she was currently unaware of, was tricking her eyes, giving an opposite image of Akane. Right was left, and left was right. Her senses were still working properly, but obviously, Akane seemed to managed to strike her in the direction opposite from where her intended strike was supposed to land. Sora had no idea if this was an effective method, but she knew by causing sharp pain to her body, she would be able to focus her mind, and hopefully through the pain, it won't make the poison cause her to see illusions.

" Hahaha! You are crazy, merely fighting through instinct!" Akane laughed, amused at her method of dispelling the poison. " Heh, so you figured by causing pain to your body, you can focus better and hope the poison won't get the better of you. You really are ridiculous."

Sora merely raised her wounded hand and flicked it, goading Akane to come. " Just shut your trap, and come get some," she replied.

Akane threw herself towards Sora, who leaped backwards as she took a wild swipe at her. She dodged the next attack, swiping back and forth as her hands came flying in all directions. Sora merely backed away, avoiding the strikes as Akane attacked all over in every direction.

" Is dodging the only thing you can do?" Akane taunted her.

All of a sudden, Sora grabbed her hand, gripping it as tight as a vice, threatening to not let go. Akane suddenly looked up in surprise at Sora.

" Bitch, so you lied, huh? Well, not that I didn't see that," Sora replied, grinning happily.

There was a blur of movement, but Akane had already expected the strike to come, so despite Sora's attack speed being faster than Akane's, Akane's hand was ready to intercept the attack, and intercepting the attack it did. However, as soon as Akane grabbed hold of the hand that was about to slam into her face, she was suddenly assaulted by a splash of some sticky fluid that smelt like blood in her eyes.

" Shit!"

Sora's hand broke free, and Akane sort of knew where it was going, and lifted her hand to block the attack. Her fist slammed into Akane's palm, but Sora's sonic attack managed to send ripples of shock waves down her arm, breaking the bones in her arm. Sora grinned wildly as she heard the bones in her arm snap slightly, knowing she had practically incapacitated her entire right arm with the strike. Akane skidded back, ignoring the pain, looking at Sora with some sort of hunger in her eyes.

" ...You...you really do fight by instinct..." Akane replied, not the least disturbed by the fact that her arm was broken. In fact, she sounded happy, delighted more like.

Some simple poisons that trick the senses could be dealt with like genjutsu, but inputting pain into their senses to cause the brain to focus due to pain, ignoring the effects of the poison affecting the senses. However, some poisons aren't that easy to be dealt with in such a fashion, and Akane's poison was one of them.

Akane had to congratulate Sora on her feint. Sora stabbed her hand in an effort to deal with Akane's poison. Despite Akane bluffing her, she didn't take it, or perhaps due to Akane trying to bluff her, Sora managed to figure out her attempt to do such a simple method to fix the poison affecting her system with pain was a worthless attempt. Still, she managed to use her injury to her advantage, spraying her blood to confuse Akane as she went for the attacking blow.

Akane's poison was something that effected the eyes. It was a special poison that attached itself on her nerves on her eyes, which changed her perspective on what she saw. It changed her views, left became right, and right became left, like a opposite view in a mirror. Despite that, under such short time, Sora seemed to have gotten used to this problem.

_She did not overcome it by figuring out how to move...it is due to her fighting instinct that she managed to get by with..._Akane thought, feeling impressed.

" You don't seem to have a distinct fighting style...you just go with the flow, with your instinct, moving where your instinct tells you to go, moving where you feel is right...impromptu, and on the spot," Akane replied.

" Are you tying to bore me, or shall I get on with it?" Sora asked.

Akane leaped backwards as Sora threw several shurikens at her. She had garnered a distinct advantage now that she had managed to disable one of Akane's arms, but this match was far from over. Akane was one tricky customer, and Sora had no idea how she managed to poison her in the first place. Was it during when she gassed all her comrades?

Akane threw herself right towards Sora. Raising her hand, she blocked a strike to her head, absorbing the force of the impact as it slammed right next to her head. Akane dropped her hand and flicked it forward, while Sora whipped her head aside to avoid the attack, her hand grazing her cheek slightly. Sora grabbed her hand and attempted to pull her forward to make her lose her balance, but Akane dug her legs deep into the ground, trying to stop Sora from getting the better of her. However, in a match of strength, Sora would win hands down, and a second later, with a surge of strength, Sora flipped Akane 180 degrees over and slammed her hard on the ground.

Akane rolled out of the way the instant she had the chance, because Sora immediately slammed her fists on the ground, and ripples of shock waves blasted through the ground, sending chunks of rocks and debris flying all over from just one hit. Sora swung her leg at Akane, who managed to roll aside in the nick of time to avoid the hit. She was unnaturally agile despite having one of her arms broken.

Sora decided not to risk close-combat just yet. Despite it being her forte, Akane still could prove dangerous when up close. Her knowledge in poisons were just minimal, and Akane's level of usage in poisons was way beyond her level to take care off. She would have to stick to long range for the while.

" Oh well, we'll see how well you can play..." Sora replied, forming her hand seals.

Akane caught her performing her jutsu. Instead of interrupting her, she decided to wait, as if eager to find what trick she had up her sleeve. All of a sudden, Sora inhaled sharply and spat something out. Akane wasn't sure what it was, as she could only make out a faint outline of a glob flying towards her, but she had enough suspicions to suspect what it was.

The glob struck the spot where she was standing at high speeds, probably with enough force to break the bones in her legs if she waited a second longer. The moment the water glob hit the floor, it exploded, sending showers of water needles all over the place. Akane could not move fast enough to avoid the attack entirely, so some of the water needles struck her right leg and arm as she avoided the attack, skidding to a halt after she jumped away quickly to avoid the attack.

" Surprising, never thought of you as the ninjutsu type," Akane replied sacastically.

" Oh well, it just supplements my attacks," Sora replied. " Water Release: Needle Missile Barrage!"

Sora fired out more high velocity globs of water, all aimed around Akane, blasting all over the place, showing water needles in a large net to surround Akane. In an instant, Akane threw out a large number of her poison vials, and the water needles struck the vials she threw all around herself, shattering and dampening the effects of the water needles.

" Needless worry...I wasn't really trying to attack you with that attack, you know," Sora replied.

Akane suddenly realised that she could not move her legs. Looking down, it seemed that all the water Sora had shot at her now seemed to coagulate at her feet, immobilising her. Sora stood at a distance, using chakra control to control the water as she please from a short distance away.

Without wasting any time, Sora leaped at her and executed a spinning kick. At the last moment, Sora saw Akane flicked out a bottle right at her leg, but she didn't really care at this point. Her foot came smashing into Akane's face, knocking her backwards, breaking the bottle Akane threw at her. The impact of her kick was followed by a painful stinging sensation, like acid on her bare skin. Despite that, she still managed to kick Akane with some brute force, throwing her backwards, sending her crashing into a tree.

" Bitch..." Sora muttered, dropping on her knees to check on her leg. Akane had thrown something caustic on it, but it wasn't overly serious. She took out her water flask and drenched her leg with, soothing the effect slightly but still doing nothing to fix it. " Dang it, I'll need Hiroshi or Suzumi to fix this..."

" Why? Can't fix it yourself?" Akane suddenly asked.

Sora's head instantly shot upwards, looking around warily. Akane was no where to be seen. Apparently, Sora had underestimated her constitution. Akane still managed to hid herself despite all the damage she seemed to be taking. A powerful blunt trauma to the head and a broken arm, yet she still manages to retain the agility of a panther. Sora looked around her surroundings, wondering where she went.

" Come, come catch me..." Akane replied, her voice echoing all over the place, like some kid trying to tease her friend. Sora carefully kept her eyes and ears peeled, ready for any sign of danger. Sometimes it was times like these she wished that she had some convenient tracking ability, so none of her opponents could do shit like this to her. " Why are you waiting?"

The first thing that her ears picked up was a hissing sound. Sora dove to the front of her, just as a purple cloud descended right above her head. Extending her leg to stop her advance, she looked upward, but only to see the tree branches, purple smoke, and sunlight shining through the branches, nothing more.

However, something suddenly grabbed her from behind, an arm, gripping her neck tightly. Before she knew it, something sharp and painful hit her in her shoulders, making her yell in pain. She tried to break free, but the arm seemed to be holding her tighter than ever.

" Miss me?" Akane whispered to her from behind.

Sora's arm swung upwards in an instant, smashing into Akane's face. Once she had slackened her grip, Sora pulled herself free from her grasp, before moving some distance away, looking at what Akane had hit her with. She found a senbon needle stuck on her shoulder, and she yanked it out forcibly. Blood dripped down her shoulder, and she could feel the warmth of the sticky fluid drench her left side of her body.

" Hahaha...pretty," Akane laughed maniacally, as if sharing a personal joke.

_How the heck did she get behind me so quietly? I didn't even noticed her approach..._Sora thought to herself. Just as she was pondering on the reason, her vision seemed to fade slightly. It was during that span when Akane suddenly disappeared from view.

" What?" Sora exclaimed. However, her vision faded once again, blurred like she just had taken too much alcohol than she was allowed to consume. Instinctively, she shot to the side, just as Akane landed right behind her.

" That was quick..." Akane laughed.

However, Sora didn't reply. All she did was form her hand seals, and focused her chakra to her hand. Violent shock waves erupted all around her, and the ground she stood on started to crack open, forming small fissures. Sora looked darkly at Akane, while she merely looked at her, feeling amused.

" Initial Gate: Open!"

Akane could feel a rush of chakra and energy flowing through Sora's body, as her body powered up for the final blow. Sora was risking everything for this final attack, because if she failed, it would be over for her. She could only afford one strike, and one strike only. This will be the decisive blow.

" ...Tch, up for it?" Sora asked.

" ...Bring it on..." Akane replied.

With a roar, Sora leaped at Akane, her hands raised high, ready to slam into Akane. In reply, Akane took out two pills, one red and one blue, crushed them in her hand, and prepared to throw her attack.


	22. Chapter 21: Tanaka Sora

**Chapter 21: Tanaka Sora**

" Supersonic Palm Strike!"

Sora tore across the area, her hands ringing with powerful energy, ready to rend anything solid into pieces. She focused on Akane, and with no other target in mind, threw herself at her with enormous speeds. At that distance, she could close in and crush Akane in less than a second, breaking all her bones in her chest with one full strike, and this was what Sora intended to do.

Thus, it did not explain why she was on her knees, with multiple slash wounds on her body, bleeding rather profoundly, while coughing out blood at the same time.

_This...this can't be happening..._Sora thought, before she crashed down on the floor.

Akane merely wiped the blood on her cheeks, before turning to Sora who was face down on the floor. Walking casually up to her, she then squatted herself down next to Sora. Sora could not see her, but she was sure she was there, somewhere close.

" That was a bit too close for comfort, the reverse almost didn't make it in time..." Akane replied casually.

_Reverse? What reverse? Did she just do something again which I missed?!_ Sora thought savagely to herself. Sora wasn't sure what to make of it. Her attack had made contact, the nerves in her hands and the sight and sound from the hit told her that she managed to strike her opponent straight in the chest. So, the question now was why was she so fatally hurt, while Akane didn't seem to have suffered a scratch.

'Poisons' was the word that sprang into Sora mind, but try as she might, she had no idea how in the world could Akane's poison make her avoid such a blow, let alone severely attack Sora as well. Unless...

Due to the severe pain, Sora's senses were numbed beyond reckoning. She could not feel any pain, yet she was dimly aware that her life was ebbing from her body, as if seeping through her veins. The numbness that spread throughout her body caused some disorientation, and she initially made her unable to feel all the damaged organs and bones in her body. All of a sudden, the word 'reverse' struck her in the mind.

Akane had actually reversed the jutsu intended for her and struck Sora instead. The reverse attack wasn't entirely perfect, as Sora's technique was meant to kill upon impact, as a perfect hit to the chest would shatter the bones and organs in the body, not to mention the spine, killing the target in a blink of an eye before he or she would be able to feel pain. Part of the attack had been returned to deal internal damage, and the other half ripping apart Sora's body, which would explain the cut-like wounds on her body. Sora had no idea on how she managed to pull it off.

" Honestly, that was a good match, you almost had me there, despite me having the initial advantage...I have to give it to you...I was almost pretty certain that I would not have made it," Akane replied.

Sora couldn't really hear her words now. Her hearing was becoming dim, probably from all the damage she sustained and the loss of blood, plus the continued loss of blood. Her vision faded into a blur. Still, she was barely aware of her surroundings, and her brain still was able to function, for now.

_I guess...I messed up..._she thought to herself quietly. There was nothing to it. She was pretty confident in taking this challenge, but still, somewhere she knew in her heart that she would lose anyway. Why? Why accept a losing battle?

For honour? Just to keep a promise to an enemy? It was such a trivial matter to her now. She could have easily said no, get her friends to gang up on Akane, and they would still be scot-free. Now, the rest of them were gone, not coming back, least their pursuers suddenly send reinforcements, and she was lying on the ground, dying.

She wondered when she was going to have flashbacks on her entire life. Rumour was that you would see your life flash past your eyes, so you could reflect on your entire life just before you expire and go to heaven, or sink into nothingness, whichever one preferred. Looked like this rumour was false. The only thing she could see was the hazy outline of the forest, and she could somehow sense that Akane was still talking to her. She could not hear her now, and it was only her intuition telling her Akane was still there, talking in a voice Sora could not hear.

Sora closed her eyes, and the moment she did that, her body seemed to shut down as well, as if that was the signal to kill off all life in the body. She felt her life slowly expire, until there was absolutely nothing left. She was left stranded in the darkness, alone and quiet. Her brain was still working, but not for long. She was certain of this fact. Still, despite the fact that she was going to die, she decided to make full use of her brain, and she decided to think, because it was the only thing her brain could do right now.

The only thought she had was one name: Hiroshi. She chuckled to herself, wondering what brought her to think of it.

However, all of a sudden, her eyes were stricken with pain, due to the immense amount of light that seemed to be pouring through her eyelids, which was technically impossible. She could not image such a sheer amount of light giving her pain.

_Pain? Wait a minute..._

She opened her eyes slightly. The light was still there, but her eyes were getting used to it slightly. Slowly, she allowed her eyes to get used to the sight, and opened them after a while. Right in front of her stood her village, the village of Konoha. She looked around, before looking at herself. She had no wounds on her body, and she seemed fine. Her first thought was telling herself this was heaven, before correcting herself. If she was in heaven, and heaven looked like her home village, God must have a very bad sense of humour.

However, standing before the village in front of her stood a familiar figure, someone she knew, yet did not know very well. It confused her a little. She knew him, yet she knew so little about him. He turned around and smiled warmly at her, as if welcoming her home. It sort of melted her heart, as if she wanted to see this smile for a long time. No, she wanted to see this smile, she had not seen it in a long time, and it was something she deserved, at the very least.

The young boy turned around and walked up to her. His features were so familiar, yet she could not remember his name. She had a name in mind, but it wasn't his...or was it? She was so confused right now. All she knew right now was the bright, handsome person standing in front of her was someone important, someone she needed to embrace and love, so pure and so bright...

The boy walked up to her and held her tight. Sora could feel the warmth of his body against hers, and she blushed slightly when their bodies made contact. His body was so strong, and so firm, and his hands held her tight, and she believed that they would never release their grip. She was convinced of this. No, she convinced herself, all a grand lie. He would release his hug on her, and they would part. How did Sora know of this, she had no idea.

Something tickled her ear. She wasn't sure what it was, but it took her a while to realise that he was talking to him, in a voice too soft for her to recognise. He kept repeating himself, and despite willing herself not to hear his words, his words penetrated her at last.

" ...It's not your time yet..."

As soon as he said these words, she was suddenly riddled in pain, extreme pain, torturous pain. She cried out in despair, wondering who would listen to her. No one would, for she was dead, and nobody would want to listen to the cries of the dead. Yet she still cried, squirming here and there, shouting loudly over and over. She felt something clamp down on her body, and she tried to push it off.

" ...S...S...So..."

Words, inaudible words. It didn't make any sense to her. She was still being assaulted by pain, and the heavy set of invisible arms that set around her didn't seem to want to break free, holding her down.

" Sora...Sora..."

Her name, being said over and over again, but she didn't care.

" Sora! Sora!"

At the clear, sharp sound of her name, she opened her eyes.

Sora wasn't too sure what to make of it. She was on the ground, perhaps now brought back to reality, and staring right down at her was Hiroshi, looking worried, relieved and confused all at the same time. She tried to tell herself this was a dream, and she was still in heaven, but the pain that she seemed to be suffering was real, and the firm hands holding her down were real, and his breath was so real, breathing down hard on her.

" Sora, it's okay...I'm here, everything is alright, relax...don't worry, I'm here," he replied assuringly.

Sora assessed her situation. She was lying on something remotely comfortable, a small piece of cloth. She was quite naked, save for all the bandages on her body and her underwear to cover herself. She felt a fever on her head, and right now it was giving her a splitting headache, especially after yelling so much. She looked at Hiroshi again, holding his hand tight, as if to reassure herself he was real.

" Here, take some painkillers...it will help with the pain and fever..." Hiroshi replied, passing her a couple of pills. She took it, and swallowed it without the aid of water, desperately wanting the pain to go away. Soon enough, the pain subsided, and the splitting headache became a mild irritant, nothing more. " Phew, I was worried there for a second when you started screaming my name all of a sudden, but you look..."

Without warning, Sora grabbed Hiroshi and pulled him down, while glaring at him with venom. Logic stated that since she was here, alive, in bandages, and Hiroshi next to her, it meant he treated him. She figured she should be happy with this, but somehow, she felt rage in herself.

" Why are you here...?" she snarled.

" You don't sound happy..." Hiroshi whined.

" You were supposed to be off...not here..." Sora snarled.

" If we did that, you'd be dead. Can't you be grateful for once?" another voice called out to her.

Sora released her grip on Hiroshi and spun at the direction of the voice. Kira could be seen sitting himself some distance away, his hands on his daggers that he keeps by his belt, ready to be drawn within moments notice. Looking all around her, she saw that they had set up camp in a cave of sorts, and from the looks of things, it seemed that they were the only ones there.

" ...What are you idiots doing here?" Sora asked, trying to sit upwards, which proved difficult, since her body seemed to be prickling with needles.

" Urm...long story..." Hiroshi answered sheepishly.

---

" Hiroshi?"

Hiroshi turned around when addressed. Suzumi was right next to him, looking worriedly at him. He had somehow lagged behind the group, looking back at the trail they previously walked. Sora was now far from his sight, and he could not even sense her presence. The rest of them were ahead of him, pausing now only to check on him, wondering why he was moving so slow.

" Hiroshi?" Suzumi repeated herself.

" ...I'm sorry, this isn't right. We can't abandon Sora," Hiroshi spurted out what was on his mind. The rest of them stopped moving now, and were looking back at him. Ryouta gave him an sad, apologising gaze, slightly apathetic. " Whatever she wanted to do, that's fine, but I'm against leaving her there."

" Then what do you suggest? That we turn around and go back. Not trying to break your bubble here, but we have no idea whether our pursuers are sending in reinforcements. If they do come, and we go right back, then her sacrifice would be for nothing, right?" Tayu argued. Makoto and Hibiki looked between Tayu and Hiroshi, wondering if her slightly vehement display of argument was due to external reasons.

" Yes, but not all of us. Let me go. I'm a medic, and if she somehow gets hurt, and I suspect she will, I'll be able to treat her. There is only Akane, so it shouldn't be too much of a problem. It shouldn't be too much trouble to find her, and when I do, we'll catch up again, which can be used as a safety ploy. Split the team, and I'll watch your back. When the enemy jumps in to hit you all, I'll come in from the rear to buy you all breathing space. You can't argue it is a bad tactic, assuming the enemy cannot track us now that we are moving so slowly," Hiroshi replied.

" Wait, if you are going, then let me come as well!" Suzumi exclaimed.

" No, I cannot allow it," Hiroshi replied.

" Why not?!"

" Because you are the only other medic in this team, and the better one. You will need to stay with them, because when the crunch comes, they will need you, and trust me, they will. I'm taking a bit of risk by going off now. Thus, you cannot go. Stay here, and take care of them. That's your job, Suzumi," Hiroshi replied, patting Suzumi on the face kindly. It broke his heart to see Suzumi slightly on the verge of tears, but he was adamant. The team cannot sacrifice two medics just to see to Sora's safety.

" I can't agree with this. Hiroshi, you are not suited for tracking, or independent missions...going alone..." Makoto replied.

" Then I shall accompany him. Will there be any further questions?"

All of then turned in utter surprise towards the person who spoke. Kira walked past them and headed towards Hiroshi, passing his side and waited, as if ready to get the signal to go.

" ...You..." Hiroshi muttered.

" Kira, are you going to leave Lady Kaguya?!" Tayu exclaimed, sounding angry this time.

" ...Not really. I am, after all, leaving her in capable hands," Kira answered quietly.

" Why you...since when did you have such cheek?!" Tayu fumed.

" I'm sorry, Lady Kaguya, but this is something I feel that I have to do. The mission still stands, and the rest of you will take Lady Kaguya to the border, and I will be counting on you all to do so. Hiroshi's plan makes some sense. We have been ambushed too many times. Splitting the team would be more efficient, and if you all get attacked again, we can cover up from the rear," Kira replied. " My deepest apologies, Lady Kaguya. I know I have sworn to protect you at any cost as your personal vessel, but I don't feel right leaving that girl behind. I assume this is some fool's pride on fellowship, but I think I need to do this."

Hiroshi wasn't sure what to say. The fact that Kira could actually talk so much within such a period of time was actually a miracle itself.

Lady Kaguya merely smiled and nodded. " I understand. Ryouta, let them go. I believe they will catch up with us later," Lady Kaguya replied.

" Wait, but..." Tayu started to object.

" No, it's alright, let Kira do as he pleases," Lady Kaguya replied.

" Alright, go, you lousy idiot, and bring that moron of a girl back in one piece, you hear me?!" Ryouta replied, chuckling. Hiroshi merely smiled back at him and nodded his head.

" Take care..." Suzumi replied.

" I shall," Hiroshi answered.

" ...Urm..."

" What is it?" Hiroshi asked, seeing Suzumi looking apprehensive and slightly scared.

" ...It's just..."

" Hmm?" he mused.

" ...Good luck..."

---

" And you failed to give her a goodbye kiss?!" Sora yelled so loudly that despite closing his ears, Hiroshi's ears still rang slightly from the noise. " Did you not know that was the perfect thing to do, and you just missed it?! I could kill you right now!"

" Although I am inclined to think that it was a stupid move, and I guess I should have said goodbye in a much more suitable manner, I don't see why the hell are you angry about it," Hiroshi replied, wincing slightly.

It was fairly dark already, and it was almost impossible for them to travel in the midst of the night with Sora in tow, so they had decided to set up camp. Hiroshi had managed to cook up some stew with the meat and herbs he managed to collect from the surrounding area, and whipped up something delicious for them to feast upon. From the looks of Sora emptying the second cooking pot, he figured he had been worrying too much.

Hiroshi explained to Sora what happened after that. Both Kira and Hiroshi managed to find Sora, on the ground, bleeding to death, apparently alone. Shifting her to somewhere safe, he then began treating her wounds while Kira kept watch. Although severe, it was nothing life-threatening if treated properly. Hiroshi managed to extract the toxins in her body administered during the fight, fixed her internal organs and patched her up nicely. Akane left her for dead, assuming she would have bleed to death.

" I can't believe you idiots came anyway. You guys never think straight," Sora was still complaining for what must have been the hundredth time since seeing Hiroshi's face, as if she was proclaiming he was some sort of irritating zit and had to have everyone's attention towards it.

" ...I take it that you are happy I save your life," Hiroshi replied, sighing slightly, his voice heavy with sarcasm.

" Oh, please," Sora replied, rolling her eyes. " Yeah, I am so pleased. Now, if something happens to Lady Kaguya while you are here having a picnic with me, it will be on your head, you know that!"

Hiroshi jumped to his feet, throwing off the plate he had on his lap when he was sitting, toppling it all over the floor. Kira didn't bother to turn around, but kept a sharp eye on the entrance, making sure nobody was around.

" You know, I risked coming back here, and get this, I saved your life! You could show some appreciation, you know that. I didn't even ask you to thank me. Some bloody silence would help, a lot, thank you very much!" Hiroshi yelled.

" Well, you know what, I don't give two cents what you just did!" Sora exclaimed.

Hiroshi was ready for another rebuke, but he stopped himself all of a sudden, as if something amazing had just occurred to him in his mind. Sora looked at him in a confused manner, wondering what was up with him. Kira took notice of this, but neither of them seemed to be noticing him at the moment. He was perfectly quiet, blending in with the surroundings, and as far as they were concerned, he was part of the cave wall right now.

" That's it...I never thought of it, but this makes so much sense..." Hiroshi replied.

" ....What makes sense?" Sora asked.

" You, being an ass to me," Hiroshi replied.

" ...I thought I always am..." Sora replied quietly.

" No, this time it is different. You weren't that harsh, and when you were, there was always a hint of compassion and kindness. I have yet to feel that from you. Plus, normally, you wouldn't even admit that you were bullying me. This is sort of a different kind of shit you are pulling..." Hiroshi answered.

" ...I am completely lost here..." Sora replied.

" You are jealous," Hiroshi answered.

There was a long pause, with a look of confusion on Sora's face.

" Excuse me?" she asked.

" You, jealous," Hiroshi answered.

" Jealous? Me? Why in the world would I be jealous of you?" Sora asked.

" Not me, Suzumi!" Hiroshi replied. " You are jealous of Suzumi, because she's got me as a boyfriend. I don't know how correct I am, but I think I know, because I have known you the longest. Deep down inside, you feel lonely, someone without anyone close to comfort you. Despite your tough exterior, I know that you are weak mentally inside, and the tomboyish demeanor being displayed is only a ruse to your weak self. You have always tried to correct this with a wild exterior, but there is always this soft, fuzzy feeling you never liked to display."

There was a sharp smack, and the side of Hiroshi's face felt hot, as if he had been hit, not to mention it stung badly. Sora had leaned out from where she was lying from and slapped him hard. Kira still sat by the side at a distance, not taking part in this little argument. Hiroshi merely rubbed the spot where he was and grinned, only to make Sora blush. As if regaining her senses, she recoiled slightly, and covered herself with the ripped clothing Hiroshi had used for a makeshift blanket.

Hiroshi walked aside, giving her some space, sitting down with his back facing her, before taking a sip from his canteen. Once done, he spoke " So...since when?" Hiroshi asked.

There was no reply. Not for a while.

" Since what?" Sora muttered.

" Since when did you fancy me?" Hiroshi replied, unable to suppress his grin.

" ..."

" Oh, come on, you can tell me," Hiroshi encouraged.

" Should I leave?" Kira suddenly suggested.

" Shut up, you all are making fun of me, aren't you?" Sora snarled. Hiroshi merely chuckled, but Kira didn't respond, not even smile. " ...Some time now...Perhaps it was after Suzumi took interest in you..."

" I did..."

" Quiet!" Sora suddenly shouted, her voice cracking. " I know darn well what you did. I know you liked me before!"

Sora frowned.

" ...And I know I didn't respond in kind back then..." Sora continued.

Hiroshi merely sighed deeply. Sora's harsh behavior towards him was now well understood. Jealousy, a trait he thought might not exist within Sora, but he had to remind himself again that despite all appearances, Sora was still a girl. Sora was a little jealous with Hiroshi's and Suzumi's relationship, and in an attempt to get his attention, did the only thing she was very skilled at: bullying him.

Hiroshi had mixed feelings, some happy, some confused, some plain weird. Sora liked him. No, like was a bad word to use. She fancied him, thought he was something, correction: someone, significant to her, someone special. He had to admit that he liked her as well, mainly she was his only female friend back in the academy where they used to study. She never accepted him, always embracing the idea he was a replacement brother for her, perhaps not comfortable of the idea that they could be so much closer in a relationship. Was that the reason why she shunned him before? Because she was uncomfortable with him?

Hiroshi stole a glance at Sora. Sora had always stated she didn't like him. A very good friend, she had admitted, but nothing more than that. Now, after what felt like an eternity, she admitted she fancied him. Hiroshi had to force himself not to laugh too loud. This could have been so different if she just said 'yes' all those years ago.

" I sound stupid, right?" Sora mused, looking away. Hiroshi had to admit, she looked very cute and vulnerable right now, and he was getting a lot of ideas, dirty ideas. He tried to shake them off his head.

" No, I'm...kinda happy..." he answered.

She looked at him. " Honestly...?" she asked.

" Yeah..." he answered. " I'm curious, though. You never said yes last time..."

" Well, maybe I wanted you to pursue me. After some time, you seemed to give up, so did I."

" Girls, they never can say 'yes' directly..." Hiroshi replied.

" I thought you were not serious."

" Look, when a kid spends twice the amount of his monthly allowance to buy a girl a gift on a whim, you should know he was serious," Hiroshi replied, sighing slightly. " ...Well, you know I can't..."

" I know...you have Suzumi already..." Sora replied sadly. Hiroshi felt uncomfortable with the regret in her voice. " I just...I don't know, wanted to take something I took for granted, and lost, all those years ago. It was selfish of me, and I know that, but still...I guess it was a childish dream of mine..."

Hiroshi merely listened to her talk. It was times like these when all he needed to do to solve problems was to sit down and shut up.

" Kyouta...I think I saw him in a dream...I thought it was you, but I guess I was mistaken. You two seem familiar somehow. I saw him, grown up, smiling at me. I embraced him briefly, and his body felt so warm...I wanted to say how sorry I was, sorry for what I did to him...I remembered him telling me it wasn't my time to die yet," Sora replied.

" Perhaps...it was he who convinced me to come back to find you..." Hiroshi replied.

" Yeah...most likely..." Sora replied. She found it strange that she didn't seem too critical of Hiroshi now. It was as if telling what she honestly felt of him took a big burden off her chest, something she thought would be better off kept in the deep, dark part of her heart. She felt guilty now, which was surprisingly something very weird. It was rare of her to feel guilty of anything. " You know, hypothetically speaking, if I did say yes to your proposal back then...tell me honestly, would it have worked?"

Hiroshi gave it a moment's thought. After what seemed like a long time, he suddenly spoke, and Sora's heart skipped a beat when she saw his lips move. " No...no, I don't think it would have worked..." he replied.

Sora looked away, smiling. Hiroshi was thoughtful enough to lie to her, to crush her hopes in order to not disappoint herself. She figured it would have worked, but for him saying yes would make her regret her choice in life, all those years ago when Hiroshi came up to her. She remembered the gift well: a very expensive looking headband, laced with some jewels on top, most likely semi-precious stones, because it was hardly befitting of a kid his age that time to buy real jewels.

" _What? You think someone like me would wear some silly thing like this on my head?" she demanded when she took a look at it. Hiroshi merely looked at her, didn't really show disappointment in his face, just smiled . " Silly boy..."_

Ironically, she never wore it, not once.

" ...Yeah, I guess so...thanks..." Sora replied, lying back down on the ground. There was no sadness or happiness in her heart, just relief. Strange, refreshing relief. She closed her eyes, willing all of this to be a mere dream, and when she wakes up, she wouldn't have to face Hiroshi any different than she did now.

_Writer's note: This chapter was a little difficult to write, since I tried to portray Sora's feelings to Hiroshi while trying to not make it sound too awkward. Ah well..._


	23. Chapter 22: The Azure Forest

**Chapter 22: The Azure Forest**

Morning had come, and it woke Sora up in an irritating manner by shining light into the cave entrance, breaking her from her slumber. She moved her limbs slightly, and they seemed to be in a fine condition. She knew why though.

" _Look, I'll be administering some steroids and drugs so you can be up and running soon enough, because we need to catch up with the rest of them. Your body will probably function normally within the span of the next day or two, but do know your injuries are still present. I'm only skilled enough to fix you up to here. If you break once more, it could mean your life, or until we meet up with Suzumi," Hiroshi spoke to her last night, before administering an injection shot on her arm. _

" You worry too much…" she muttered to herself, before taking a good look around her surroundings. The fire they had set up had burnt out, leaving the ash remains behind. Some of Hiroshi's equipment were sprawled all about the place. Hiroshi seemed to be missing, but Kira still kept watch at the entrance, keeping an eye out for anything remotely suspicious. He didn't turn around and he had his back towards her, but Sora was pretty sure he knew she was awake. She was curious to know if he ever slept at all.

" So, I didn't manage to talk to you last night," Sora replied, suddenly reminded of last night's talk with Hiroshi, and it made her blush all of a sudden. " Why did you come along? It's not like you had an obligation to come…"

No reply.

" Answer me when I ask you a damn question?!" Sora yelled, although it did make her sides hurt a lot. " …Don't you know it's rude to ignore a lady?!"

" …Oh, you were one?" Kira replied passively. Sora raised her eyebrows. If that was supposed to be a joke, she wasn't going to start laughing anytime soon.

" Tch…I don't understand you…you just keep quiet all the time, no expression…boring, in fact…" Sora replied.

" …It's to pay a debt…" Kira answered all of a sudden.

Sora looked up, wondering what this was all about. " What debt?"

Kira didn't answer. He flicked out both his daggers in an instant, as if sensing danger and like the seasoned hunter he was, readied his weapons. His blades glinted under the morning sun, ready to draw blood. Sora readied herself as well, wondering what the danger was, but lowered her guard when Kira lowered his.

" …Hiroshi…" Kira muttered quietly.

Within the next few seconds, Sora could see someone arrive from a distance from the forest by looking through the cave entrance. Hiroshi dropped by the mouth of the cave, apparently having rushed over quickly enough. He was panting slightly, and sweating quite a bit.

" Foreign group, I think they might be our pursuers…we need to leave," he replied, panting.

" Where?" Sora asked.

" Somewhere north from here. Come on, we don't have the time. We leave now!" Hiroshi exclaimed.

Sora merely clicked her tongue at the news. Their enemies were very persistent, and not intent on giving up. She wasn't sure what Akane did after their match. For all she knew, she could have told her organization what she did, but Sora had an inkling that she did not.

Hiroshi leaped into the cave, packed up his equipment in an instant, and was out before Sora even realized it. He was efficient when it came to his own belongings, having a knack for keeping stuff in order. All three of them left the cave in a hurry, with Hiroshi leading the way.

" Here, take this," Hiroshi replied, tossing Kira and Sora something. Sora caught the item Hiroshi threw at her while moving from the place at top speed. It was a round metal ring with several tags tied to it. The tags were not explosive tags, but they had a weird seal on it, written on a white piece of paper. Sora wondered if this was some sort of seal.

" What's this?" Sora asked.

" Think of it as a powerful explosive tag with a 3-second delay and only I can activate it," Hiroshi replied. " Things are going to get hairy if we don't prepare. I took the liberty to prepare some weapons in advance. You should know that I can make explosive notes on the go, they are only a bit different."

Sora wasn't sure what to think about it, but she noticed that they were next to a stream. " Hey, why are we here? Are you following the path directed by this body of water?" Sora asked.

" Yeah, I am…I have my reasons…" Hiroshi replied.

" Wait!" Kira suddenly hissed.

All of them skidded to a halt upon his command. " West, large group. 8, I think…" he replied, listening carefully to his surroundings. Sora looked around. Her senses were barely aware of people moving about. Hiroshi, being the least perceptive of the lot, could not feel a thing, so he had to trust Kira's instinct in being correct.

Hiroshi considered the situation. 8 of them was quite a large group. If they met head on, they would be screwed beyond reckoning. Kira's fighting abilities allowed him to take on people 1-on-1, two people at the most, not suitable for group attacks, and so does Sora's abilities. However, Sora had just recently recovered, so their fighting force at its most optimum consisted of only two people.

" What now? Shall we crush them?" Sora asked, slamming her fists together.

" …You have got to be crazy…" Kira muttered.

" No, she's right…" Hiroshi replied.

" I am…?" she mused.

" Of course…wait, you weren't thinking when you said that, right? Then never mind," Hiroshi replied.

If their pursuers were around the area, they would not be able to move quickly to catch up with the rest of them. Hiroshi promised Ryouta that he would watch his back, and he intended to do so. If they were delayed any longer, none of them might be able to catch up to their original group, and it would be troublesome if they got attacked.

" We need to catch up with the rest of them as soon as possible. If it is impossible to track us while we walk slowly, our enemies still can run. If we can deal with these idiots here, then we can take off some pressure of Ryouta and the others for now," Hiroshi answered.

" Good point, but we don't have enough man-power to fight them…" Sora argued.

" Wrong…we can…" Hiroshi replied. " With the lack of man-power, what is the basic tactic in which we can use to gain an advantage? Come on, basic stuff from the academy…"

Sora gave it some thought, before it suddenly came to her mind. " An ambush…" she replied.

" And you have one of the best trap-setters Konoha right here, right now. I say we do this. Are you guys in?" Hiroshi asked.

Kira merely nodded, and Sora pumped her hands into the air, signifying she was agreeing with this. Whenever it came to violence, Sora would almost agree instantly. " Alright, here's the plan…" Hiroshi replied.

-

" Worried?"

Suzumi turned around to see Ryouta standing behind her. They were taking a quick break at one of the smaller fishing villages. As far, by keeping to Akane's suggestion, they had not encountered any of their pursuers yet. Either she was honestly telling the truth, or Hiroshi and Kira were doing a brilliant job in keeping their pursuers off their backs. Ryouta figured it was a mix of both.

Suzumi merely nodded slightly. Whenever she had the chance, she would look back at the direction where Hiroshi left them. She couldn't stop thinking about him, wondering if he was doing alright.

" He'll be fine, I can vouch for that," Ryouta replied.

" …How do you know that?" Suzumi asked.

" …Do you believe in the six sense?" Ryouta asked.

" Huh?"

" The six sense. A psychic connection, a mysterious calling…the ability to know something before it happens. I'm not sure about you, but I am a strong believer of the six sense. No rational to it, you just know. It's like seeing someone important leave and knowing they will never be back even though they assure you they will," Ryouta replied. " I just know it that he'll be fine…"

Suzumi wasn't sure what to say, but merely glance around the place. Makoto and Hibiki were sitting next to each other, not talking. The topic about Hachi had strained their relationship slightly, so they did not talk with each other too much. Tayu was still pouting about Kira wanting to leave with Hiroshi, and had not gotten over it yet.

" …It's okay…I'm not into this stuff anyway," Suzumi replied. " But thanks for cheering me up anyway…"

Ryouta merely shrugged his shoulders, before walking away.

" Ryouta?"

" Hmm?" he mused, stopping and turning around.

" What makes you so sure Hiroshi is alright?" Suzumi asked.

Ryouta frowned for a while, as if trying to think of an answer. " I'm…not exactly sure. I just know I am convinced that I will die before his time is due…that is all," Ryouta answered with some morbid humour. With that, he walked away, leaving Suzumi to stare incredulously at his back.

-

Hiroshi glanced at the river. Both Sora and Hiroshi had hidden themselves behind several trees, far from view. Right in front of them was the river they had been travelling along previously. Hiroshi fiddled with the line he was holding, one of the key traps he had up his sleeve.

" You think this will work?" Sora asked.

" Despite having an element of surprise, there is always a margin for error. In this case, we use what we trap-users like to call luck. Luck can be the basis of all things," Hiroshi replied.

" Luck? So, should I start praying now?" Sora asked laconically.

" …It helps…" Hiroshi replied, shrugging his shoulders.

" …Here he comes…" Sora replied.

Hiroshi braced himself. He could sense movement in the direction in front of him, but he wasn't too sure where it was coming directly from. Sora prepared herself as well, getting ready for the attack. Timing in an ambush was the key. Now, all they had to do was wait.

All of a sudden, there was a large explosion in front of them, somewhere within the forest itself, sending up flame and copious amounts of smoke into the air. This was their signal. Hiroshi had instructed Kira to circle about, bring their pursuers close and draw them into their trap. The explosive note was a signal that Kira was back.

Sora sprang into action. She flung several seals into the river in front of them, the pieces of paper landing on the surface of the water, absorbing the fluids before sinking slightly. Kira leaped out from the forest and crossed the river in an instant. Hiroshi knew he had only a couple of seconds to do this, so he went into action. Jumping out into the open, he flipped a few hand seals, preparing his attack.

As expected, 8 shinobis leaped out from the forest where Kira leaped out from, landing in front of the river. Without wasting any time, Hiroshi slammed his hand on the ground, charged with his own chakra.

The river suddenly blew up, as if someone had set of a massive chakra blast in the middle. The explosion was enormous, sending out a massive blast that was beyond any normal explosive. Despite the explosion happening in the water, Sora could still feel the heat of it hit her as the rush of steam burned her skin as the wind blew against her direction, soaking her in hot steam and water droplets. The blast was about as powerful as Makoto and Ryouta using a fire/wind jutsu combination and combusting it in one big blast.

" …Holy cow, what the hell did you just do?!" Sora exclaimed in shock. Kira merely looked on passively, as if he wasn't interested.

Hiroshi merely used the terrain to his advantage. Water was after all made of two main explosive materials: hydrogen and oxygen. Tapping into their potential, he did a quick electrolysis trick by splitting the atoms of the water apart using his seals and chakra, making them explosive. All that was left was to set up a spark using his own chakra, and a fusion blast of oxygen and hydrogen could be formed. It wasn't like he could do this all the time. He had expended all his special seals on this trap, and he won't be able to make it again, least until they get back to their village where he could get some more supplies.

" It's not over yet!" Hiroshi exclaimed.

Hiroshi flicked his hands upwards, and Sora spotted chakra strings attached to them. In an instant, he tugged hard, and all of a sudden, two shinobis were suddenly dragged across the river, having gotten trapped by the chakra strings he had laid on the ground earlier. Kira wasted no time in pouncing on them, slamming the edge of his daggers into the bases of their necks, killing them in an instant. Their blood seeped into the river, soaking the river crimson.

When the smoke and steam settled down, they got a good look at their opponents, and Hiroshi clicked his tongue in irritation. Out of the eight, only two were severely injured from his make-shift water explosion, and including the two Kira just dispatched, that only meant that they took down half their attack force. This meant that there were four more shinobis left. This was not favourable to them, since it meant fighting 2 on 1, that is, if Hiroshi didn't include Sora into the equation.

" So, did we run out of traps?" Sora asked.

Hiroshi considered his position for a while. Their enemies were only stunned momentarily, and he took these precious 3 seconds to make his decision. He dug into a weapon pack and withdrew a lone scroll, marked with green crosses on a black background. Sora didn't know what it contained, but she knew he always carried 2 of them about starting from 3 months ago. She figured that it was another weapon scroll of his, albeit a special one, from the looks of it.

" Well, guess I wasn't lucky enough today. Sora, you were not praying hard enough," Hiroshi replied chuckling. " Kira, step back, I'm going to play my ace this time. Sora, you should back up as well. I cannot aim well, and my special technique might hit you as well…"

Both of them did as they were told. Sora and Kira moved backwards in an instant, staying at least 10 feet away from Hiroshi. Just as the enemies were recovering, Hiroshi bit his finger and ran his bloodied digit along the scroll as he opened it. Rolling it back, he clasped it in his hands in the form of a seal, before tossing the scroll into the air.

There was a sudden bang, before copious amounts of smoke started to appear out of nowhere. Sora raised her hands slightly to block the smoke, but it engulfed her completely. She figured the smoke was used to hide something, and she would find what Hiroshi intended to hide soon enough. Soon enough, the wind blew the smoke away, and Sora could only gasp at the sight of the majestic scene that lay before her.

Right in front of her, Hiroshi stood proudly, facing the remaining four pursuers, who looked around at the weird sight. Hiroshi had littered a whole slew of weapons all around him, weapons of all sorts, ranging from clubs, bladed weapons of various types like daggers and swords of multiple shapes and sizes, to the typical shinobi weapons like kunais, windmill shurikens and senbon needles. It was as if he had discarded an entire stock of weapons all around him, as if telling his opponents that he did not need them. However, this sight was a bit familiar to Sora somehow, as if she saw it before. It suddenly struck her that she had seen this sight, on an event during their Chuunin Select exam when he had to fare against Makoto.

" Hiroshi…you…" she gasped.

" Upgraded my technique, yes…" Hiroshi answered, before replying in a dark, serious voice. " Secret Puppet Act: Blades of the Azure Forest!" before throwing his hand outwards in an instant.

Without a moments notice, one of the shinobis was suddenly impaled with various weapons, two short swords on his back, a scythe on his neck and three senbon needles at his gut. He must have died instantly, because he didn't even get to cry out in pain as he fell down on the ground, his eyes wide in shock, as if asking what the hell just happened. Sora knew exactly just what had happened. Hiroshi had used chakra strings and attached them to the weapons littered around the place, his puppet techniques coming into play, and threw the weapons at his target.

It was a brilliant technique, Sora had to admit. The last time she saw him use this technique, he only littered the placed with kunais, but now, there was a vast arsenal of weapons for him to choose from. He would form a field of weapons, all at his disposal within moments notice, and engulf the enemy within it. Once the enemy was within his boundary, he could grab any weapon he desired and fired it at any target, his ability to use chakra strings proficiently made this possible. He could fling weapons from any direction, or use them to his heart's content at any point, a weapon always ready in hand. With perfect precision and skill with weapons, almost no one could escape.

One of the shinobis leaped back and grabbed a nearby sword that stuck out from the ground, only to see it break apart in his hands. Sora had to admire the detail in his work. None of the weapons here could be used by the enemy, or even his allies. Hiroshi had configured his weapons so that they may only be held in a certain manner, or they will instantly break apart due to the mechanism of his customized weapon. Thus, this was an armory of weapons in which he, and only he, could use. An ultimate mobile trap.

Hiroshi's hand moved in an instant, and the weapons around the shinobi who made an attempt for the sword suddenly shot upwards, impaling him on the spot, killing him instantly as well. One more leaped at him, intending to stop him directly, but Hiroshi fired several kunais from his weapon launcher. The shinobi took a second to avoid them, and Hiroshi took this opportunity to kill him, sending several swords and daggers to impale him immediately.

It was obviously futile, so the last one made some last ditch attempt to run away, but he found himself staring at ten weapons hovering all around him, surrounding him in a large semi-circle, their edges trained at him, ready to be fired at any instant. Hiroshi didn't feel any remorse, any guilt. It was a task he had to perform, despite it being a bloody one. The only form of pity he gave the person was killing him instantly so that he didn't need to suffer too much.

Hiroshi looked like some sort of avatar of carnage, standing over several corpses, the river now dyed in dark red, weapons lying all over the place. Nobody said anything for a while, until…

" Why didn't you use this jutsu earlier when we started fighting these goons?!" Sora yelled. " You could have saved us a whole lot of trouble!"

" I couldn't, because the conditions for usage was not right. I needed a large field, and none of my allies anywhere close, along with multiple enemies in a small target area, not to mention none of my enemies could be weapon specialists. I had met none of the requirements so far, and this was the only opportunity to use it, so I took the liberty to use it. A weapon is best used when it is most effective, and I adhered to that very same principle," Hiroshi replied. " Also, I had to measure the risk involved. After all, I only have two of these weapon scrolls, thus, I can only use the 'Azure Forest' once more only."

" Also, this weapon technique is not perfect. To use it perfectly, it is best used when the enemy is distracted or disorientated. If the shinobi earlier who rushed at me had watched my hands, and the weapons surrounding him carefully, he could have easily avoided my attack. After all, you should know that my main weakness in combat is ranged accuracy, and I compensate that by either using a multitude of weapons to cover up for the accuracy, or use something utterly devastating like explosives," Hiroshi explained. " As I said, sometimes, we have to leave things up to luck…"

" …You are weird. How'd you turn out to be so cool this morning?" Sora asked.

Hiroshi merely scratched his head sheepishly. " Hey, I'm always this cool…" Hiroshi replied. Sora merely frowned. She could suspect what his reason was for fighting so dangerously this morning, and she felt guilty about it somehow. " Anyway, we should leave."

Sora and Kira nodded in unison, and all three of them made for the trees, Hiroshi leading the way.

_Writer's note: The idea for Hiroshi's Azure Forest is taken from Archer's Unlimited Blade Works from Fate/Stay Night._


	24. Chapter 23: The Final Stretch

**Chapter 23: The Final Stretch**

Hibiki merely clicked his tongue as he paced up and down. A new dawn had arrived, and the sun was almost going to break at the horizon. He looked into the distance and clicked his tongue once more, before returning to pacing up and down the forest floor, clicking his tongue a few times. Makoto could feel that the air was tense, and decided it was best to not ask what was up with him.

Still, curiosity did get to the better of him, and throwing caution in the wind, he suddenly spoke up, praying Hibiki wouldn't bound on him like an angry tiger, saying three specific words: " Are you worried?"

Hibiki's reaction was nothing but predictable.

" What? Me, worried about what?! Hardly?!" Hibiki declared, obviously lying from the tone of his voice, and he decided to pace even faster, walking up and down, kicking up the dirt when he felt like it. Makoto figured that sated his curiosity for the day, and made the decision to not disturb his friend any longer.

A full day had passed since Hiroshi left the team along with Kira to retrieve Sora. Makoto felt that the chances of finding her, and getting her back to safety was quite slim, but he didn't dare tell Ryouta of the chances. It was after all bad luck to learn of numbers when doing something vital or important. So far, no word from them, but Makoto didn't expect them to contact them so fast.

They had managed to put some distance between them, and they had been traveling for a while now. Their traveling methods had made them move at a much slower pace, but true to Akane's word, they had not encountered any enemy forces. Still, Hibiki was obviously agitated, or displeased at something.

" But you seem a bit…how should I put it…restless?" Makoto suggested. This only brought about a hiss from Hibiki, his eyes flashing with irritation.

The sound of a dry twig snapping made them divert their attention from each other, and they spotted Suzumi standing by a tree, looking worriedly at the two of them, most likely having heard them argue with one another again, and trying to make her presence known since it was the only way she could ever make Hibiki back off from harping on Makoto too much. The topic about Hachi was still fresh in Hibiki's mind, and despite knowing it was bad to bring it all up again, he didn't seem to want to stop.

Hibiki muttered something inaudible and walked off with a huff, not wanting to pick a fight any further. Suzumi watched him sadly as he left without a word. She hated this rift between her best friends and comrades, and somehow wished she could fix this gap, but she knew it was useless for her to interfere. Hibiki would have to cave in, and Makoto would have to apologise sooner or later. Only then will they really reconcile, but for now, the best she could possibly hope for was for them to not bicker with one another.

" Is there something you need?" Makoto asked calmly. Suzumi wondering if Makoto was trying to deliberately avoid the topic, or to somehow make Suzumi feel better by just being ignorant of the situation. She merely shook her head, and walked away.

-

" Something on your mind?" Ryouta asked, breaking into a grin as Hibiki passed him, looking somewhat displeased.

" …Is it that obvious?" Hibiki asked, stopping to stare at Ryouta.

" You have been agitated ever since that day. Now, we left three of them behind. I can hardly doubt you are overly worried about Kira, since you hardly know the guy, and not to mention you aren't too attached to guys anyway, from your typical outbursts I always see, so this leaves Hiroshi and Sora…" Ryouta replied. " I'm saying you are worried about Hiroshi, aren't you?"

There was a slight pause, before Hibiki sighed and replied " Yeah, I guess so…"

Ryouta chuckled, before giving him a look of utter victory. " Slight pause there, you were contemplating, which means what I said was false. Thus, I can only deduce that you are more worried about Sora than you are of Hiroshi," he replied smugly.

Hibiki merely made an irritating grunt. " Pah, think whatever you want. I'm not worried about that dumb broad, not the least," Hibiki replied.

-

" Are we there yet?" Sora asked.

" No, and for the last time, stop it. You are irritating, at the very best," Hiroshi answered, sighing loudly.

It was what must have been the hundredth time that Sora had asked that question. It was pretty obvious it would take some time to get to where the rest of their comrades were, but Sora was always persistent in being an utter pest, especially on long trips. It was usually much more bearable when there were other people traveling with him, since she would pester everyone who followed equally, like Ryouta or their sensei Shikamaru, but this was not the case now. Kira didn't count since he was basically a concrete block with legs moving along with them. Sora liked it when there was a response, and Kira rarely responded to her irritating behavior.

All three of them made some progress along the way, with Hiroshi zeroing on Ryouta's position using the wireless radio. Even without the aid of the radio, Hiroshi's sense of direction and knowledge in geography was quite enough to get him through towards where they were supposed to head. It was pretty obvious that he was getting close. Some of the flora that grew in the Grass nation region could be found here, scattered amongst his country's natural environment. The scenery grew a little more unfamiliar with each stretch they took, since Hiroshi and his teammates rarely took many outstation missions, so they rarely went past their countries borders.

Thankfully, Sora's spunk indicated that they were quite fit to move. Despite sustaining grievous injuries in her personal fight with Akane, Sora recovered fast enough to be on her feet once more, with her irritating personality back to boot. Even considering her having taken drugs and steroids to enhance her body, she had recovered pretty quickly. Hiroshi wondered if people who excelled in taijutsu usually had better recovering abilities. He noticed that whenever they got injured in any of their missions, Sora was the quickest to recover. Hiroshi's other option was to pick on gender, but he suspected that this was not the case.

Hiroshi casually turned to look at Kira. He stayed behind, acting mostly as a rearguard, since his responses was the quickest amongst all of them. He had still not figured out what was his motivation for coming along. To help Hiroshi out? Hiroshi did not recall any indication of aiding Kira to such a degree that could convince him to return in such a fashion to rescue Sora. Was Sora the cause? Sora wasn't the meanest girl on the block, but her attitude needed time to get used to. Hiroshi could hardly imagine Kira fancying Sora enough to want to save her.

Or could it be true? After all, what was it that made Sora attractive? Disregarding her kick-ass tomboyish attitude, Sora had the looks to rival any girl in town. If she could act her age and smile a little more, she wouldn't have any trouble finding a partner. Hiroshi thought this was hilarious since he was worrying about such a trivial thing, if it could be considered trivial in the first place.

" Stop bugging me," Hiroshi replied, sounding tired.

" But you are the only available person to respond to. Talking to Kira is less exciting than talking to a piece of tofu. At least you can eat a tofu," Sora muttered loudly.

" You could try and engage in small talk, you know. It's not like he is permanently mute, or something," Hiroshi replied, before deciding to give an attempt. " So, Kira, where did you learn your killing techniques. They had a lot of precision and a glint of sharpness in your execution."

Kira merely stared at them, his eyes boring into Hiroshi's skull. Perhaps not an appropriate time to talk about such things. However, Kira took a deep breath, before responding in kind.

" I used to live in the deepest parts of the ghetto, lovely seedy place where crime was apparent all over the place. This was the slums of our country, where the poor live and die in the most degrading way ever. I never knew my parents, since I was abandoned when I was young, a byproduct my mother could never accept. I was brought up by some kind lady, who died when I was 4 when someone tried to rob her for some cash, and once finding out that she did not have any on herself, killed her in contempt," Kira answered.

Hiroshi and Sora looked at each other in an awkward manner. It was not the typical introduction they imagined, sounding so morbid and dark. Certainly, Kira must have had a very rough childhood, and Hiroshi could see where is impassive, dark, brooding attitude came from. Hiroshi wanted to suggest that Kira stopped here, but there was no going back now.

" So, I made a living stealing off the streets. I believe I had the aptitude for it. Stealing was something I did for a living, but I had my own morals, and I only took what I really needed. Still, the slums and the ghettos were just the place for criminals. It was a violent place of crime, and to escape it, I had to become violent as well. I was not proud of it, but it was something I had to do. Nothing more, nothing less. It was during this time I honed my shinobi skills, running, escaping, fighting. It was more like street fighting than anything, but still, you can get a hang of it when you have enough balls and skill," Kira replied.

" I…see…" Hiroshi replied, slightly lost for words. He wanted to say something sympathetic, but somehow sensed that it might sound offensive to Kira's ears.

" Our country is a small one, so we are always looking for people to bolster our shinobi forces. We do have a lot of internal strife, I know, but then again, sometimes fighting is all we are really capable of anyway. They saw my skills as something desirable, and I was eager to leave my old life behind to forge a new one for the country. I accepted their proposal to serve and train as a shinobi in return for my loyalty to the military force. That was all," Kira answered, finishing in an empty manner, as if it meant nothing at all.

" Geez, sounds like you had a troublesome childhood. No wonder you seem so screwy all the time," Sora commented before Hiroshi had the chance to stop her.

Kira merely nodded his head, and muttered something that sounded like a 'thank you'.

_Weird guy,_ Hiroshi thought.

" Are we there yet?" Sora piped up.

-

Ryouta started to set off again. They had taken another break, and were on the move again. This time, he was sticking to one of the roads, which would eventually allow them to reach the Grass country border. There was still some distance to travel, but with any luck, at the speed they were traveling, they might be able to reach there before nightfall.

He looked behind to check on Lady Kaguya. She was doing quite well in keeping up with them, and she still looked fresh despite all the traveling and fighting they had been going through. He smiled inwardly, thinking of how resilient she was. Tayu followed her closely, as any personal bodyguard should.

Ryouta always had this idea that Tayu was pretty young to be a bodyguard. Of course, the minimum requirement for a personal shinobi bodyguard was that the bodyguard had to be at least a chuunin level. However, despite being a chuunin herself, Ryouta had a feeling that she had only recently been promoted. This meant she was selected as a personal bodyguard by Lady Kaguya probably due to preference. Kira's case was probably the same.

Ryouta had been wondering what actually motivated Kira to follow Hiroshi to rescue Sora. He didn't know Kira that well, besides that he was skilled with the blade, and had a penchant to keep to himself. Still, Kira left Lady Kaguya's side, and despite Lady Kaguya being very generous in letting him leave, apparently Tayu didn't take it too well. It was indeed a peculiar set of action in which Kira took, and nobody seemed to understand, save perhaps Lady Kaguya. If she somehow knew, then she wasn't telling them.

" Look, there!" Tayu exclaimed.

Ryouta looked at where she was pointing at. Right in front of him was a mountain some distance away at the horizon. It was the Silver Peak, named after the misty fog that swims around the mountain, creating a white line that crosses the mountain sides. This was the mountain that separated the main border between both countries of the Leaf and Grass. A sign that they were almost there. For the first time since he left on this mission, Ryouta broke into an honest, relieved smile.

Tayu couldn't help but laugh at the sight, and even Lady Kaguya smiled at the sight of the mountain. Suzumi gave a loud sigh of relief, although Hibiki and Makoto looked passively at the sight of the mountain. Ryouta was then reminded that it was not over yet. Despite having the Leaf and Grass forces at the patrol stations nearby, this mission was far from over. Lady Kaguya still had to reach the outpost first.

Ryouta couldn't help but think of Hiroshi and Sora. He prayed that nothing serious had happened. It was hardly likely to hope that Sora came out of her fight unharmed, because they would have caught up with them if that was the case. Still, Ryouta was hoping that Hiroshi was tracking him using the radio frequency he had set, and was just right behind their tail.

He somehow missed both of them. Since they left them behind, Ryouta was the only Leaf-nin in the group, and it made him feel slightly out of place. He tried to convince himself that there was absolutely nothing he could do to change the situation, and all he could really do was to have faith. Faith in Hiroshi that he could make it, and they would return home from this nightmare in one piece.

It took these few days without Hiroshi to make Ryouta realise how dependent they really were on him. Hiroshi was not the best in combat compared to the rest of them, unless you throw Suzumi in the equation, but his main task was maintenance. He was always there to make sure their weapons were in order, their equipment working properly, making sure his teammates were well-fed and ready for action, and generally keeping things in order.

Hiroshi always claimed that he depended heavily on the rest of his comrades, but his statement was false as the opposite was the truth. Ryouta suddenly felt vulnerable without him around, as if he had lost his protective barrier of sorts, now vulnerable without his shield. Ryouta didn't make a mistake when he said Hiroshi was the glue that held their team together.

Ryouta forced himself to take a deep breath. No point thinking about it now. Hiroshi will come back to back them up, along with Sora and Kira. That was how dependable Ryouta believed he was.

" So close…let's start going now!" Hibiki replied.

Ryouta was about to give the signal to continue when he noticed something peculiar. Suzumi was staying behind the group, looking behind her. That itself was not peculiar, since she was worried about Hiroshi, and had every reason to be. However, the peculiar thing was that Suzumi's index and middle finger on her left hand were twitching periodically.

Ryouta's heart skipped a beat. In the heat of such an important mission, it was always important to relay secret messages in order to not alert the enemy that they had realized their presence. That signal Suzumi was sending was her signaling that the area around them had been surrounded in genjutsu.

Genjutsu. It was the art of using illusions, the art Suzumi was an expert in, besides her amazing knowledge in medical jutsus. Casting genjutsu against Suzumi was pointless, since she could very easily see through it. She was signaling to him that she had spotted a genjutsu surrounding them, plus she also knew where the genjutsu user was. Makoto seemed to have noticed this as well, as he seemed to pause and casually look around.

" Alright, let's go," Ryouta replied, while snapping his fingers twice. Another secret signal, to Suzumi specifically, to tell her to show him where the genjutsu user was. Suzumi responded at once. She tapped her left foot, and aimed it towards a certain direction, and tapping once more again.

Ryouta and Makoto reacted at once. Both of them immediately leaped at the direction Suzumi directed them towards. All of a sudden, Ryouta could feel something very light, as if the air suddenly was lifted from him. He reminded himself this was merely the sensation of the genjutsu being dispelled, possibly due to the user breaking it as he panicked while seeing both Ryouta and Makoto leap at him.

Something rustled in the trees, and Ryouta and Makoto shot up towards it in a flash. As they crashed through the tree branches, they could see a female shinobi dressed in black, hiding amongst one of the bushes. When she came into view, she drew out her kunai, but Makoto and Ryouta reacted even faster. Ryouta grabbed her first, pinning down her arms, while Makoto stepped up and slashed her neck while she was rendered defenseless by Ryouta. She blood gurgled from her mouth slightly, before rolling her eyes to her head and her body started to lose her strength, before falling off the tree branch. However, this was not before Ryouta noticed a small radio slung on her side.

" Oh…shit…" Ryouta exclaimed.

No sooner than he said those words, a swarm of shinobi appeared. They had still managed to track them somehow with more conventional methods, but they had succeeded anyway, and were rushing towards their position. Something was thrown, and Ryouta leaped back instinctively. Makoto wasn't fast enough, and the explosive note exploded next to him, tossing him backwards. Hibiki managed to catch him before he fell, saving him from a nasty concussion.

" Suzumi! Take Tayu and Lady Kaguya and run!" Ryouta ordered as he landed on the ground perfectly, while four shinobis leaped from the tree branches, all armed with kunais and shurikens.

" But, we can't…!" Suzumis started to object.

" Now!" Ryouta bellowed loudly, his hands now set aflame with his Immortal Phoenix Technique, as another four more shinobis appeared.

Trying her best to hold back her tears, Suzumi ran up to Lady Kaguya, grabbed her, and started to run while the boys held the pursuers back. Tayu followed just as Ryouta began to burn his surroundings with the intensity only he could attain.

Not too far away, a small group of four people were watching the skirmish quietly, keeping an eye on the proceedings as it continued. When they saw one of the shinobis grab Lady Kaguya and began to run, they leaped off the tree branch they were on and started to follow them.


	25. Chapter 24: Ota Tayu

**Chapter 24: Ota Tayu**

Suzumi panted slightly as she managed to reach nearby village. It was the one Ryouta was talking about that was situated nearby, consisting of several houses owned by the farmers that lived in the area. Very carefully, she gingerly placed Lady Kaguya back on the ground before trying to catch her breath.

" What about them?" Tayu asked, sounding worried.

" …We've got no choice…they'll be buying time for us…" Suzumi responded in a pained voice. Neither Tayu nor Lady Kaguya had any words to respond to that statement.

There was one option left to choose. They needed to move, and they needed to move now. The boys will see to their escape hopefully, to hold out against the entire onslaught of enemies. If they were lucky enough, they might catch up with them, but that chance was slim. Suzumi knew of the chances, the risks involved in each dangerous mission they took, but having prior knowledge knowing her comrades might be going to be killed didn't make her feel any better.

Suzumi clenched her fists as she heard the clashes of steel and the sound of combat some distance away. She knew Ryouta and the others were skilled combatants, better than her at any rate, and there won't be a problem if they leave now. They had to anyway. If Ryouta was willing to sacrifice this much, Suzumi had to honour him wish, and that meant abandoning him.

" We have to go…we have to move now…" Suzumi replied, fighting back the tears.

Suzumi would later call it pure luck that allowed her to survive the ordeal. Makoto and Hibiki might put it as instinct, but Suzumi personally knew her combat instincts were about as comparable to a fat chicken. She didn't knew why, but as she was about to take a step forward, she stopped. At that very instant, something fell right in front of her, and she suddenly registered a sudden shot of pain in her left leg, and that made her scream loudly.

" Kyaa!" Suzumi yelled.

" Suzumi!" Tayu exclaimed.

Suzumi was on her knees, clutching her bleeding leg. Something had cut through her thigh, and it was hurting like hell. As she was clutching the bleeding limb, she looked up. Right before her stood a female shinobi with a weird knife in her hand. It was as thin as the surgical knives she used, but much longer, and curved like a snake. Something flew past her head, and the shinobi backed off.

" Suzumi, are you alright?! That looks bad…" Tayu replied.

Suzumi gasped in agony as she looked at her leg. Superficially, it probably looked like she had just suffered from a normal gash, but she knew better. Her attacker had somehow managed to cut her muscles, slice through her tendons and sever her nerves, all in just one swift strike which she didn't even see coming. A combat medical-nin, Suzumi guessed. Her blow stuck an injury that would take a lot of effort and time to heal. Not even Hiroshi could fix such a serious internal injury.

" Dang, I missed…oh well, it's not like you can beat us anyway," the female replied.

Both kunoichi's turned to face their enemy. Three other shinobis appeared behind the attacker, obviously hostile. Suzumi felt her skin prick all of a sudden, and she couldn't help but tremble. They will be annihilated here, no doubt about that, the question only was how fast. Suzumi was pretty much incapacitated, and Tayu can't possibly match four shinobis at once. She would only have a slight chance if they were all genins, but that was something too much to ask for.

" I guess we could ask you to hand over Lady Kaguya, but you all can be persistent bastards, as far as our intel goes," the kunoichi replied, raising the blade in her hands.

" Orders, Haruko?" one of the shinobis asked.

" Just kill everything in sight," Haruko replied, licking the blade with her lips. Suzumi noted that despite being stabbed with that blade, there wasn't a single trace of blood on the weapon.

She suddenly gasped when Tayu suddenly stepped in front of her, facing off the four other attackers, showing her back towards Suzumi. Suzumi was reminded of the time years ago when Sora stood boldly in front of her, proudly showing her back towards her, telling her silently that she would protect her, no matter the cost. Tayu showed no hesitation, and was resolute. She would fight these four assailants, and something told Suzumi that she intended to win.

" Don't get the wrong idea. It's not you that I desire to protect," Tay replied, as if somehow managing to understand what Suzumi was thinking. " Fix that wound of yours. I'll be taking care of this idiots."

" You jest. You intend to fight all four of us," Haruko laughed.

" You must be blind. You expect to win?" Tayu mocked her.

" Tayu, don't!" Lady Kaguya pleaded.

" Lady Kaguya, hold your peace!" Tayu shouted.

Lady Kaguya winced slightly. Suzumi had never seen Tayu yell at Lady Kaguya before, and she believed it was unthinkable. Lady Kaguya merely looked at Tayu as she continued to look at the enemy, her eyes as sharp as ever.

" I resent your concern. I am your personal retainer, not a helpless maid who cannot defend herself. Now, keep still while I deal with this rabble. It will take only a few minutes, so sit tight, Lady Kaguya," Tayu replied in a dark, cold voice.

Suzumi merely watched as Tayu tensed herself, cracking her fingers as she did so. Flicking out three senbon needles in each of her hands, she prepared herself for the on-coming onslaught.

All four of them leaped at her in an instant, ready to strike her down. Tayu flung her senbon needles towards on on-coming crowd, but predictably all of them avoided the attack easily, merely side-stepping the attack as it came in such a straight-forward manner.

" You'll need more than that to beat us!" Haruko exclaimed.

Tayu merely stared at her with an icy stare, before forming a tiger seal. " If you say so…" she replied in a cold manner.

Haruko, somehow sensing danger, leaped up. The senbon needles Tayu threw suddenly shot back towards her, aiming for the legs. It barely missed Haruko, but they spun around at high velocities, speeding back towards Haruko. As soon as Haruko's feet hit the floor, she leaped aside, just as the senbon needles shot past her.

" What?!" Haruko mused.

" My name is Ota Tayu, and this is the limit of my inheritance," Tayu replied. " Fall prey to my Jigoku Senbon!"

All of a sudden, as if remote controlled, the senbon needles started to fly in all directions. One of the shinobi's backed up and missed an on-coming attack, but Tayu sent two needles to strike him at his back. He gasped as the needles pierced his neck, and he fell to the ground, twitching slightly. The senbons merely slipped out from his bloody neck, levitated for a mere second, before flying off to find its next target.

" Jigoku Senbon? …Wait, I've heard of this name before…isn't it one of the famous bloodline abilities of the Grass?!" Suzumi exclaimed.

" Yes, it is…" Lady Kaguya replied, still looking worriedly at Tayu, who continued to fight off the assailants.

" …But, I thought the ability was possessed by the Nijikamura clan?!" Suzumi demanded.

" It is…Tayu is an offspring from that clan, but a rejected child from the clan," Lady Kaguya explained.

" Rejected? Why?" Suzumi asked.

All of a sudden, someone started to cough. Turning around, Suzumi saw blood dripping from Tayu's mouth. Apparently, she somehow suffered from some sort of internal injury. She was wincing slightly in pain, and her eyes seemed a little unfocused.

" Because her chakra coils in her body were defective during birth," Lady Kaguya answered. " Thus, the Nijikamura clan could never accept the shame of a Nijikamura who could only use their ability at the cost of her life."

---

Young Nijikamura Tayu felt lost and scared for her life. Not to long ago, she had been left on the busy street in her village, which was now bustling with people. She had attempted to look for her parents, thinking they might have lost her in the crowd, but after seeing them eye her before leaving the scene, the thing she dreaded the most had come to pass: she had been abandoned by her family.

She had no idea why, perhaps too young at that time to comprehend such matters, but she could only wonder about the event that happened just a couple of days ago, while she was training in her home. All of a sudden, during the middle of training, she started coughing out blood. She was immediately rushed to the hospital to receive treatment, but it wasn't anything overly serious. She took some pills, and the doctor performed some checks on her. Still, she could never forget the forbidding look on her family's faces when the doctor told them of the results. She never found out what he said at that time, and she didn't really want to know, despite having a nagging suspicion of knowing what was going on.

Still, all that really mattered was that she was left alone in a busy market street, and nobody seemed to be giving her a second glance.

Except maybe one person.

She noticed a boy her age standing some distance away. Despite wearing a thick cape over his shoulders, she could still spot some shinobi apparel from under his attire. Her eyes brightened up slightly as he somehow looked her way, and she looked back at him. No doubt, probably a student of the shinobi academy. It didn't really matter at that point whether he would accept her or not, seeing someone her age was enough to make her want to contact them.

The boy merely stared at her while she ran up to him. She tried to take a good look at him. He probably lived in the streets, or was very poor, looking at the condition of his attire. Upon closer inspection, she noticed his cloak was worn out and ripped in various places, an overused item that could use a replacement. His sandals were dirty and looked like they were about to break soon. His hair was an absolute mess, red strands hanging all over the place. He glared back at her with no apparent interest in his eyes, possibly wondering what she wanted to do with him.

" Urm…help, I'm lost…" she replied.

The boy merely turned around and walked away.

-

" …Are you mad?" Tayu asked timidly.

" …Yes…" the boy muttered.

" …But you are not forcing me to leave…" Tayu replied. The boy did not answer, but continued to walk as Tayu followed him by holding on to his cape. Out of desperation, Tayu grabbed hold of the boy's cape as he started to walk away. He looked positively infuriated, but surprisingly he didn't really stop her. Tayu had been following him for minutes now, apparently unsure if he had a destination in mind. "…Urm, I haven't asked…"

" Kira…" the boy answered before she could finish.

" Oh…urm, well, my name…"

" Tayu…" Kira answered faster than she could respond.

" …You know a lot of things…are you God?" Tayu asked curiously.

" …No…" Kira replied bluntly. " Where the hell are your parents anyway?"

The moment Kira asked that question, Tayu started to sob, before bursting into tears. He stopped walking as everyone around him stared at this odd couple, a crying young girl holding a cloak of a boy her age. He didn't bother trying to pacify her, only looking at her in an irritated manner. He merely watched her as she continued to bawl loudly.

Kira's eyes turned sideways when he noticed someone approach them. A girl about five years older than then stood next to Tayu, before patting her head gently. Tayu stopped crying, before looking up at the person who patted her head. She had a beautiful face, or so Tayu thought, and she wore a dress that looked a little too nice to be worn typically. She looked up at the newcomer with mild interest, wondering who she was.

" Hello, are you lost?" the older girl asked.

Tayu merely looked at her in a perplexed manner, as if trying to figure out what to say to her during those moments. Her eyes widened after a while, before replying " …Pretty…"

The older girl raised her eyebrows. " Pretty?"

" Very pretty…you are…" Tayu replied, grinning now.

The older girl smiled back warmly at her. " Is that so?"

---

Tayu charged forward, aiming at one of the shinobis closest to her. She quickly slipped right behind him, before grabbing his neck with her arms, pinning him to the spot. Normally, she wouldn't have the strength to hold him for more than 3 seconds, but holding him for a short period of time was more than enough. Six senbon needles came sailing through the air, before striking the poor fellow in his chest, sinking into his organs easily. He started to cough out blood, and Tayu released him, dumping him on the ground.

" Hmph, looks like your ability comes at a cost…" Haruko laughed as she circled Tayu.

Tayu raised her hands, and the senbon needles that were previously stuck inside the dead shinobi came flying out towards her. Haruko dodged and ducked the flying senbon needles, one nicking her cheek. The other shinobi tried to attack her while she was occupied, but she noticed his movements. She swung her hand backwards, and with a quick sleight of hand, grabbed hold of his outstretched arm aiming for her neck. She gave a hard tug, tripping him, just as she sent her flying senbon needles towards him, killing him be striking him in the neck.

" Doesn't really matter…I'll be finished with you idiots by the time it is over," Tayu replied, before started to cough out more blood. Her vision started to become slightly hazy. The effects of using her jutsu was wearing out her body internally. Tayu took deep breaths, trying to stop the pain from getting the better of her.

At the same time, Suzumi was trying to fix the wound on her leg as soon as possible. Having her muscles and nerves damaged was proving to be troublesome, but she was trying her best to fix it as quickly as possible. While she was doing that, she was admiring Tayu's fighting capabilities.

The Jigoku Senbon was literally making her unstoppable. Her jutsu allowed her to send projectile weapons in any direction she wanted, and with precision and pin-point accuracy. Much like how Hiroshi could use weapons with his chakra strings, but Hiroshi was limited to controlling his weapons as far as his chakra strings could reach. Tayu's Jigoku Senbon could reach all angles, and from what Suzumi could see, it could reach a distance of 30 meters easily. She had heard of the Nijikamura clan being proficient users in this technique, but the way Tayu carried herself, she was probably a genius in the art of using this jutsu.

If it wasn't for her defect, she would be quite overpowered.

Haruko skidded into plain sight, standing some distance in front of Tayu, but Tayu didn't react. Suzumi suspected that it was because Tayu didn't wish to use her ability any further unless she could confirm a kill. The fight had lasted two minutes, but Tayu had coughed up a lot of blood, and it was staining her attire bright red. Tayu probably had one more shot left.

" Afraid?" Tayu asked.

Haruko didn't reply. Her eyes were looking around at the senbon needles Tayu had prepared. They were now on the ground, not being controlled by Tayu's power. Very calmly, she flicked out another knife, this time a plain one, and from the looks of it, it looked like a large surgical knife.

" Hardly…" Haruko replied, before leaping at Tayu.

Tayu formed the tiger hand seals once more, and all the senbon needles shot towards Haruko at an insane speed that would even prove difficult for Sora to dodge. Suzumi could not see how Haruko could avoid them all.

She didn't.

Tayu stared at Haruko in surprise as she whipped her hand about, the large surgical knife flying through the air. All the senbon needles were cut down in half with absolute precision, the pieces dropped all over the place. As soon as she was done dealing with Tayu's Jigoku senbon, she leaped at Tayu herself. Tayu immediately flicked out three senbon needles in her right hand, but she was far too late.

Haruko's curved knife sank deep into Tayu's gut, piercing out through her back. Suzumi gasped in shock as she saw Tayu getting stabbed in her gut, while Lady Kaguya screamed her name. Tayu suddenly felt her strength leave her as her body was riddled and taken over by shocks of pain. The three senbon needles dropped to the ground harmlessly as she released them from her grip.

" …Unfortunately for you, I know a bit about your Jigoku Senbon," Haruko replied, grinning at Tayu as blood continued to seep out from her wound. Tayu merely looked at her with mild surprise, her vision now turning into a complete blur. " What you do is to insert some of your chakra into a small object, in which it allows you to control that said object at will. However, once damaged, you will lose control of the said objects. With that, you become practically harmless…"

Tayu wasn't sure what Haruko was doing, but she could feel an intense pain spreading inside of her. It felt as if Haruko was pouring her chakra to damage her internal organs. Tayu felt herself drift in and out of consciousness. Her breathing started to become haggard and hard.

" So, what are you going to do now?" Hauruko asked, smirking.

She gave a yell of pain when Tayu flicked out two senbon needles and slammed them hard on Haruko's wrist. "…The hell? Where did you get so much strength left?" Haruko exclaimed, wincing.

" Now!" Tayu shouted.

Suzumi shot up towards Haruko, her leg now fully healed, and slammed a senbon needle of her own into the base of her neck. There was a look of shock that was etched on her face permanently as she released her grip on the blade that was embedded inside of Tayu. Tayu merely gave a slightly smile, before lapsing into unconsciousness and falling to the ground.

_Writer's note: I guess I could have used an English name as per usual, like _Hell's Needles,_ but _Jigoku Senbon _strangely had a nicer ring to it. _


	26. Chapter 25: Retainer

**Chapter 25: Retainer**

A powerful storm of fire shot forward, incinerating everything that stood in its path. There was no need for Ryouta to hold back now. This would probably be his last stand, so he would just take down as many shinobis as he could before he expired. He took another breath, before setting his surroundings on fire without much effort.

" Jeez, these punks just won't give up!" Hibiki scowled, before leaping at one of his targets. His target suddenly swooped out of sight, moving all around him, giving him a hard time to get a fix on him easily. " Stop moving already, punk!" he exclaimed, before leaping at his intended target after some consideration on where he would be heading.

Makoto seemed to be a little disorientated during the fight, looking left and right while using his jutsus, as if he was looking for something he had dropped. Ryouta disliked keeping an eye out for him while he acted like this, because he was already busy keeping the other enemies at bay. Makoto didn't seem to be attacking, but looking around, making himself a prime target.

" Makoto! What are you doing?!" Ryouta shouted loudly when he saw Makoto space out, just before receiving a cut to his cheek for getting distracted by Makoto's carelessness.

Makoto spun around at the sound of the exclamation, only to see a shinobi move right next to him, his carelessness disallowing him from noticing his presence much earlier. The shinobi raised his hand, kunai firmly clenched in his fist, before falling face first onto the ground, never to get up again.

" What?" Makoto mused, noticing the slash marks on his back.

" Kira?!" Hibiki mused, noticing a foreign presence.

Kira swooped in and out of their ranks, his knives flashing as he cut down as many opponents as he could while he was at it. The enemy had not been able to sense his approach, thus his sudden ambush worked perfectly.

" Wait, if you are here, that means…" Ryouta mused.

There was a loud outburst of shouting which made Ryouta spin around. Two of the shinobis were suddenly strung up a tree branch, wrapped around in multiple cords of metal wires, tied up real nice and unable to break free no matter how much they struggled.

" Looks like we just made it in the nick of time," Hiroshi replied, smiling smugly as he observed the surroundings, the hanging of the two shinobis a result of his work. He raised his weapon launchers and fired them, with multiple kunais tied to metal wires being shot out towards his targets. Most of the shinobis managed to avoid them in time, but Hiroshi still managed to snag one, the wires wrapping around his feet and neck. Hiroshi gave a powerful tug, which sent him crashing on the floor, and Hibiki made quick work of him by stabbing him at the base of his neck.

" You are late!" Hibiki replied.

" Hey, I need some points in dramatic entrances, you know," Hiroshi replied good-naturedly, firing his weapons all over the place.

" You are not the hero of this tale, no need for that crap!" Hibiki exclaimed.

The remaining shinobis, seeing that the cards were turned against them, decided to retreat for now. Ryouta didn't bother chasing them. There were probably more of them where they came from for them to effectively deal with. He had to be content that they all were still in one piece, except maybe a little worn out from the intense fighting.

" Good to see you…" Hiroshi started, but was abruptly interrupted mid-sentence when Ryouta jumped on him, giving him a tight hug. " Gah, what the heck is the big idea?!" Hiroshi exclaimed.

" Nothing much, I'm just glad to see you again," Ryouta replied, breaking from his hug.

" Oh woe is me, I guess no hugs for me, right?" another voice piped up. Ryouta moved to the left to see Sora coming up from behind Hiroshi, coming out from one of the trees. " Don't bother, it's not like I appreciate a hug anyway."

" It's good to see you too…" Ryouta replied, smiling.

" Pshaw…" Sora muttered, turning her head aside.

" I'm not overly glad…" Hibiki muttered.

" You wanna fight, then bring it. I've been itching to beat up something since my previous loss," Sora snarled.

" Guys, we need to move," Makoto replied all of a sudden. " And I mean now!"

-

Tayu could hear voices in the distance calling out to her. She could not make out what the voices were saying, or who was talking to her. However, it made her vaguely aware that she was still alive. She tried to open her eyes, but she found her eyelids to be extremely heavy. Some figures were above her, shaking her body. Tayu tried to force her eyelids open, just about enough to see what was going on.

The familiar face of Lady Kaguya was looking down on her. She tried to force a smile, although she wasn't really aware whether or not she was smiling or not. Her brain didn't seem to be functioning properly, as she felt sluggish and most of her body was non-responsive.

" Gah!" she suddenly screamed.

Something hit her on her stomach, and all of a sudden, all the excruciating pain from her injuries started to come back at once. Her mind was awake now, sharpened so to speak. Pain started to flood her body like a never-ending flow of a river. Her eyes shot wide open, and she took a look around to see what was happening.

She had been propped to a nearby rock wall, and she could see a trail of blood coming from where she had been dragged from the point of where she collapsed. Lady Kaguya was next to her, her hand covered in her own blood, as her crimson blood slowly seeped out from her wound in the middle of her gut. Suzumi was next to her, talking rapidly.

" …Gave her a shot. Her nerves had been damaged, and the shock from the injection might have caused some pain, but it was necessary, because her heart was failing at that point. Lady Kaguya, please move aside, I need to treat her immediately!" Suzumi replied. Tayu then realized she was not directing her words towards her, but to Lady Kaguya instead.

However, before she could start treating Tayu, something alerted her of danger, because she spun around, flicking out several senbon needles in her hand. It wasn't really necessary, since six familiar figures appeared in front of them.

' Huh, so those idiots made it?' Tayu thought to herself.

" …Hiroshi…?" Suzumi gasped, shocked to see him in front of her. She got up and threw her arms around him, hugging him tightly, some tears in her eyes. The rest of the boys talked a bit, while Kira came over and knelt next to her. He nodded slightly at Lady Kaguya, who nodded back in return, before looking back at Tayu.

" …Where…were…you…ass…?" Tayu demanded, each of her words causing more pain in her chest. This surprised her slightly. After all, she was only stabbed in the gut. Why is it causing her so much pain to speak, and why is her entire body suffering so much?

Kira didn't reply, but nodded again. Tayu merely gave a weak smile, glad to see her closest comrade alive once more.

" There is no time, I need to treat Tayu…" Suzumi replied. Tayu saw her once more sitting next to her, her hands raised as it was suddenly coated in a light blue haze, Suzumi preparing herself to treat Tayu. However, before she could treat her, Makoto grabbed her hand, stopping her from treating her. " Makoto? What are you…?"

" …It's no use. Our enemies now know of our location, and they are getting desperate. Within the next few minutes, we are going to be overrun by at least 30 shinobis. From the looks of her injuries, they will arrive her even before you are halfway done with the treatment," Makoto replied.

" What?!" Lady Kaguya exclaimed in alarm.

" Makoto, we can't abandon her! She just risked her life to protect us. And now we have to leave her here to bleed to death?!" Suzumi demanded.

" Pointless, we are going to die here if we treat her," Sora objected, sighing slightly.

" Not if we can help it. We went back to save you, remember? We are not going to leave a friend like that so carelessly behind!" Hiroshi replied forcefully. Sora merely turned aside and looked away. Hiroshi rolled up his sleeves and knelt next to Suzumi. " We'll just fix the necessary injuries, then bring her along. I'll help, Suzumi, it'll be much quicker this…"

Tayu suddenly grabbed both their hands just as they were about to heal her, making both Hiroshi and Suzumi turn to her in surprise. They tried to shake her off, but she held on with surprising strength. Tayu knew if she let go now, it might all be over, so she held on to their hands as tightly as she could.

" Forget…it…" Tayu spoke to them, each words hurting her lungs. " …Go now…don't…worry about…me…"

" What?! We can't do that, you'll…" Hiroshi started to argue.

" It's…over…for me…" Tayu replied, trying to speak as fast as she could possibly afford. " …Reinforcements…will be…coming…no chance…go now…it's over already…for me…it's okay…"

Hiroshi slammed his fists on the rock wall Tayu was leaning against, while Lady Kaguya started to cry. " As a medic-nin, I'm trained to save lives, and I have yet to fail to save a life! Tayu, I don't want you to be my first!" Hiroshi exclaimed. Suzumi sniffled slightly, tears welling up in her eyes. Hibiki and Ryouta looked on solemnly while Makoto kept a close ear on how far their enemies were.

Tayu gripped his hand a little harder. " …Sorry…to disappoint…" she answered, before turning to Lady Kaguya. " Sorry…this is…as far…as I can…take you…Kaguya…"

" No, Tayu, you are coming with us!" Lady Kaguya exclaimed.

She shook her head slowly. It was over. Tayu would only slow them down at this point, and their enemies were close. She could not accept herself being a burden. Her time was over once Haruko's blade entered her gut, and somehow, she didn't mind her coming death so much.

" Sorry…Kaguya…I was…harsh…on you…earlier…" Tayu replied, gasping slightly.

" No…no! You have to come with us!" Lady Kaguya started to cry.

" …This is…the end…old friend…" Tayu replied, looking at Kira. " Take her home…will you…?"

Kira merely looked at her impassively, just like he always looked. Tayu wondered if she spotted a trace of sadness in his emotionless eyes. Perhaps there was, just a glint. She figured she had never fully understood this enigma of a friend, and she probably never will at this rate. She gave him a weak smile, just as he leaned forward and pecked her forehead softly.

" Go…don't look back…"

Without wasting anymore time, Kira got up and picked up Lady Kaguya, who was still crying hysterically, before motioning to the rest of them to move. Suzumi and Hiroshi got up to leave as well, Suzumi rubbing the tears off her face. However, before Hiroshi could leave, Tayu whispered his name.

" What is it?"

" …Do you…have…an explosive…tag…?" Tayu asked.

A jolt of pain shot through Hiroshi heart when he heard her say those words, but he nodded nevertheless. He procured an explosive note in a flash out from his weapon launcher, before placing it tagged to a kunai in her hands. " Most powerful of the lot. Will take out anything in a 10 meter plus radius," he replied.

She mouthed a 'thank you' to him, too weak now to even speak. Hiroshi got up with a heavy heart, before following the rest of them to leave the place as they leaped on the tree branches and hurried off.

-

" How far are they?!" Ryouta demanded.

" Not too far off. At this rate, they might catch us in less than ten minutes," Makoto replied, who was leading the way, with Kira next to him, still carrying a howling Lady Kaguya on his shoulders. " Besides, we can't really move that fast with Kira carrying Lady Kaguya and Sora having recently recovered."

Ryouta cursed silently as he fiddled with his wireless radio. With any luck, he could catch the frequency of the local radio and transmit a signal to the place where they were heading, so that they might send in reinforcements with any luck. However, all Ryouta was getting was static. They would be out-run at this rate.

" How about a flare?" Sora asked.

" What?" Ryouta asked, turning his head about as he kept moving forward.

" You are trying to contact the base with the radio, right? You are probably not going to get it. Since we are so close to the border, security is always tight, so I doubt you can easily jack in into the local frequency here. But since we are so close, why don't we send a flare. With any luck, the people watching the outpost might catch it and come," Sora suggested.

" Are you nuts? Sending out a flare is like telling the enemy where the hell we are!" Hibiki shot back.

" No, she's right. Our pursuers are coming anyway. Sending out a flare won't make much of a difference because they already know our position," Ryouta replied. " But we aren't close enough to make it yet. At this distance, I fear they might not be able to see our flare. We need to get closer," Ryouta replied.

" How close?" Suzumi asked.

" …15 minutes more of traveling time, I guess," Ryouta answered. The odds didn't look good.

All of a sudden, Sora halted her movement, stopping on one of the tree branches. Ryouta, seeing her stopping her advance so abruptly, had to stop as well, and he signaled to the others to wait. " What's the big idea, Sora?!" Ryouta demanded.

She merely broke into a big grin while the others looked at her curiously. " Well, since this is the end game already, I guess it's time to pull out all the tricks. There is one way to slow them down effectively. I wonder why you didn't think of it earlier," Sora replied with a smug look plastered on her face.

-

Tayu was slowly drifting in and out of consciousness, but she tried to force herself to stay awake. Her eyelids were about to close on her anytime no, but with sheer willpower, she just kept it open. She clutched the explosive note in her hands tightly, as if she was clinging on to dear life. A small pool of blood was already forming around her, and if this continued for a few more minutes, she would most likely die.

Still, she desperately clung on for dear life. It was not like she had much attachment, or reason left to live any longer, but she had a task, one task left, not overly important, but one she would like to perform nevertheless during her final moments. Thus, she just tried staying awake. She didn't bother trying to withstand the pain, because she could no longer feel any pain.

' My time is almost up…' Tayu thought, not too sure what exactly she was feeling right now.

Four shinobis suddenly appeared within her sight, followed by four more, followed by multiple others. It looked like they were going all out in trying to get Lady Kaguya. A couple of them noticed Tayu bring propped up by the wall, as if she were dead. Tayu tried to suppress her grin when some of them started to walk closer and closer towards her, as if wanting to check her out.

' Come…' she thought happily to herself. ' Come closer…!'

-

Some distance way, Hiroshi's head suddenly shot up when he heard his explosive tag ignite and blow up, sending a roar across the forest. Hiroshi could only gasp as he saw billows of smoke rise into the air, while Lady Kaguya howled Tayu's name in sorrow.


	27. Chapter 26: Gendou Hibiki

**Chapter 26: Gendou Hibiki**

Hiroshi clenched his fists when he saw the smoke rise from the far distance where they had left Tayu behind. There was probably no mistake in what she did, and it didn't make Hiroshi feel any better. After all, it was he who handed her the explosive note. He slammed his fists on the tree next to him, the base of his hands striking the solid wood, while Suzumi looked at him sadly, wondering what was on his mind.

Sora merely looked at the billowing clouds of smoke from distance with a bored expression, as if it was an everyday occurrence, before turning back to the small crowd in front of her. " Shall we hear my proposition? Tayu stalled them temporarily for a while, but it won't be long now," Sora replied. Hiroshi winced when Sora mentioned Tayu's name so casually, but he decided to hear her plan.

" Fire away," Ryouta replied.

" We have a trap expert in our group. Isn't obvious we will have to use him to slow the enemy down?" Sora asked.

" What? Hiroshi?" Makoto asked. " Not possible. At this distance and rate, and with their sheer numbers, to be effective, Hiroshi will have to need more time. There isn't enough time for him to set his traps with the enemies at this distance."

" Well, obviously we will need to have another diversion," Sora replied, grinning.

Hiroshi's eyes widened in shock when he realised what she was implying. " Wait, you can't be serious..."

" Here's what I'm proposing as our plan," Sora replied sternly, cutting him short. " All of you go on ahead. I'll hang back and distract them a bit, this should buy Hiroshi some time to set up some traps to effectively slow them down. If one or two of you want to hang back and back Hiroshi up, that's fine with me, but the rest of you will take off towards the border and get Lady Kaguya out of harms way. When you are close enough, fire the flare to signal to the guys at the outpost to notify them of your position. With any luck, we might be able to make it in time."

Sora looked curiously as Hiroshi suddenly jumped on her branch furiously, before grabbing her by her collar and slamming back onto the tree, while Suzumi gave a short gasp. Sora surprisingly didn't put up any resistance, perhaps due to her previous injuries, or she wasn't in the mood.

" Don't talk crap! I didn't go back to save you so you can get yourself killed again, alright?!" Hiroshi yelled back.

The rest of them looked in surprise when Sora suddenly slapped Hiroshi hard on his cheeks, sending his face reeling to the side from the impact. This was surely a first for Sora, since she never slapped him before, not like this. Hiroshi merely rubbed the spot where he was hit, while Sora merely glared at him.

" Don't be naive, Hiroshi. I appreciate that you stayed back to pick me up, but this doesn't mean I owe you anything," Sora replied. " Above being your friend, this is a mission, and I think you should know the mission takes priority. In my state, I can hardly keep up with you all now, in fact, I'm the slowest amongst all of you."

" But..." Hiroshi objected.

" Look, you will have to leave now. They'll be here any minute, and the more time you wait here, then me being a decoy will have less value. If you are going to waste my time, then I'm going to hate you for it, Hiroshi," Sora replied coldly. Hiroshi could not respond, his jaw hanging slightly.

" Sora..."

Both of them turned to Ryouta who had addressed her. He had a solemn look on his face, but he stilled smiled at her while giving her a cocky salute. " I'll be seeing you around..." he responded.

" Will do..." Sora answered, breaking into a wide grin.

" Ryouta?!" Hiroshi exclaimed.

" There is nothing more to discuss, Hiroshi. Sora has opted to stay, and so she will be. We move out...now!" he barked, before heading off once more.

One by one, the rest of them slowly followed him, with Hiroshi being the last to leave. Hiroshi looked back at Sora, while she gave him a haughty arrogant look at him, as if trying to tell him he wasn't needed her. Hirsohi felt guilty somehow, even though arguably it wasn't his fault. He wondered if he should have done something for the situation.

" Get going, punk..." Sora replied.

" Hey..."

" What?"

" You aren't mad, are you?" Hiroshi asked.

All of a sudden, Sora pulled him close, threw one hand over his shoulders and looked gleefully at him as she breathed in front of his face while he felt his face heating up. She tugged his head slightly and pecked him on the forehead, before saying " With you...never...now, get going..."

Hiroshi clenched his fists, deciding to harden his resolve. He nodded fiercely back, before heading off in the direction where Ryouta and the others took off. Sora watched him leave, leaping on one branch to another, until his moving figure was gone from her eyes.

Her vision blurred all of a sudden, before she felt herself loosing strength in her legs. She buckled slightly, but she did her best to steady herself while she held her head in pain as a headache rushed through her. She started to pant heavily, as if she had just completed a long, strenuous run.

" Huh...almost at my limit, eh?" Sora mused, as her eyes regained focus slightly.

She pulled out a small pack and shook it, allowing some pills to fall out. They were some supplementary pills Hiroshi had given her, which he took from Suzumi earlier, steroids packed to allow her to continue running despite her condition. Sora should be currently resting on a hospital bed, but the circumstances didn't work in her favour. She didn't tell him how bad she actually felt, since she actually felt bad about it. She didn't want to betray his expectations, so she kept quiet about her condition. She popped them into her mouth without hesitation.

_I'm almost loosing it already...I won't last too long now..._she thought to herself, while taking out some of her remaining equipment. She tied 6 explosive notes on 6 kunais, and slung them on her belt. She had already run out of weapons, their exhausting journey having sapped her of her equipment and weapons. _Apt, I'm almost finished here anyway..._

Turning around she turned to face the large column of smoke that rose from the distance. The track they made while coming here were obvious, since they were in a rush, so their pursuers will have no problems tracking them down. This was just perfect for her, since she would just wait her till they arrived. She fingered the explosive notes that hung on her side.

Minutes passed, but nobody came, which was a good thing, but it did make her impatient. They longer they took to arrive, the better the chances of them reaching their destination. Sora prayed they would take some time to arrive, but her hopes were dashed when she felt them come.

" So soon...?" Sora replied, before reeling slightly when she coughed out violently. She felt a warm mixture of blood and phlegm fall onto her hands, some of it trickling down her chin. All of it was coming back now, ever since she lied to Hiroshi and said she was fine. " ...I guess my time is almost up..."

There was no need to hold back now. Her friends depended on her, and this time, she knew she would succeed. She pulled out one of her explosive tags, before charging chakra into the palm of her hands, a sharp, resonating sound started to hum on her palm. Her chest started to ache when she activated her chakra, as if it was about to explode, but she didn't care.

" ...Thank you, Hiroshi..." Sora spoke quietly to herself, before the first shinobi appeared before her sight. " Come on, bring it on!"

As she gave a guttural war cry, she threw herself forward, speeding at tremendous speeds despite her injuries. The shinobi didn't have time to react as she sank the kunai in her hand into his gut, before priming the explosive tag just as she made contact. Swiftly, she slammed her foot into the person's gut, sending him backwards, before exploding in a brilliant blast of fire.

As the fire around her roared, she ducked as she felt shurikens being thrown in her direction. She tossed herself towards the side, before flinging an explosive note towards the general direction where it came from, before exploding in another flash of fire. She hit the sides of the trees, heading downwards with each bounce, her feet touching the grassy floor, before breaking into a run.

" Come on, scumbags! Bring it on, bring it to me!" she taunted them, a malicious glint in her eyes.

She flung herself aside during mid-run to avoid another shower of shurikens, before flinging another explosive note in their direction, the explosion giving her some cover and she moved left and right. She spotted a few of them traveling quickly up in the trees, darting around carefully to avoid getting hit by her explosives. She flung another two explosive notes upwards, sending them scattering as they blew up above her head, the heat of the fire searing the top of her head.

Some of them landed down on the ground, since avoiding explosions while leaping from branch to branch would only give them an uneven footing while they moved about. Sora ran up towards the first person who landed on the ground and slammed her body into him, knocking him aside. She didn't bother with finishing him off, since her task was to delay them as long as possible. As soon as she managed to knock him aside, she headed towards her second target, the closest she could pick amongst the tens that dropped down next to her.

" Wait, she's a decoy, the rest of the group is probably moving already..." she could hear someone say.

She promptly crashed into another shinobi, but this time, strong arms gripped tight around her as she hit the body with her shoulder, carrying her up, before sending her crashing onto the ground. Sora gave a silent gasp as she felt something crack, and she shot of pain went up her spine. She was sent rolling on the ground, before coming to a stop some distance away. Most of them started to leave already, realising that Sora was merely here to distract them, although there were a few handful that stayed where she was.

A couple of them dropped down by her side. She threw her final explosive note at them, and they scattered the instant the blast erupted. She was a bit worn out and hurting too much, but she pressed on nevertheless. The first shinobi approached her from behind. She grabbed his arm as he tried to his her head as she did a side-step to avoid it, catching it as it swung by past her head. Summoning all her remaining strength, she flung him over her head, where he was sent flying some distance away.

The rest of them started to gang up on her, and without her usual vigour and strength, she could not avoid them all. She fended off a second attack, just as another guy came in from the side to attack her. She raised her arm to block the hit, but before she could draw her arm back and counter attack, she felt something rise in her throat, before she coughed out more blood, along with whatever remaining strength she had left. She felt herself falling slightly as one of the came up to her, his arms raised, his chakra flowing in his hands, ready to strike her to finish her off.

_Is this...the end?_ She thought to herself.

-

" Are we there yet?" Hibiki asked all of a sudden.

" You know, the role of the team's annoying member is now empty, but this does not mean you need to take up the slack, alright?" Ryouta replied. " For your information, we are not there yet, and we will probably never reach there in time. But you already know the plan, right?"

" I guess so..." Hibiki replied, before pondering for a while. " But, you know, I feel kinda bad that we left Sora back there alone."

Ryouta tensed up slightly while he continued to move on. Hiroshi looked at both Hibiki, who was lagging behind to protect the rear end of their convoy, while Ryouta was taking the lead, showing them the way. Lady Kaguya had finished her share of crying now, and was keeping quiet while Kira carried her along.

" There was nothing we could do..." Ryouta replied calmly.

" Oh yes, there was. We could have dragged her along," Hibiki objected.

" Stop arguing with me already," Ryouta replied in an irritated voice. " You think I liked that choice?!"

" Not saying the choice was bad, I'm just saying it's a tad bit cruel for you to just leave her there by herself. So not like your character, Ryouta," Hibiki replied mockingly.

" So, what would you have me do, leave one of you idiots back there with her as well? What can I do now anyway?! We are too far off now to go back," Ryouta replied.

" Well, now that you mention it..."

Ryouta recoiled in shock when all of a sudden he saw Hibiki's body melt, turning into a brown sticky goo, as the body slowly dissolved into mud. Ryouta skidded to a halt, and so did everyone else, when they saw the mud clone disappear, the mud dripping off the spot where the clone last stood on the branch.

" What the hell?!" Ryouta exclaimed loudly, before turning to Makoto " Since when did he switch?!"

Makoto merely shrugged his shoulders.

-

" Geronimo!"

Hibiki flung himself from the trees, his spear pulled back, poised to strike. The shinobi who was about to assault Sora looked up, only to see a looming figure of a terrible face grinning madly at him, while holding a piercing weapon high above his head. The weapon came down as the figure fell, piercing a hole in the neck of the unfortunate person. Blood gushed out from his wound as Hibiki landed on him, snarling fiercely at the rest of them, giving the rest of the shinobis pause.

" ...Hibiki..? ...Ugh!" Sora mused in confusion, before the strength in her legs gave way, and she fell down to the ground. She looked up at the familiar figure that wasn't supposed to be here, wondering what was he doing here. She decided this idiot must be out of his mind. "...What are you doing here, asshole?"

" What do you think? Being an asshole as per usual," Hibiki replied sarcastically, although he looked very happy about it.

" ...You aren't supposed to be here..." Sora replied, coughing slightly.

" ...I missed the chance to save you earlier, Sora. I've decided that I will not make the same mistake again," Hibiki replied with his back against her. Sora looked up at him curiously, wondering what his words mean. " I am, after all, a man of character. Sit tight, we are getting the hell out of here!"

Upon saying those words, the rest of their pursuers started to attack, all of them leaping towards Hibiki. Sora watched as four shinois suddenly rushed up to him, some of them preparing their jutsus already.

" You idiot! Run!" Sora yelled as hard as she could possibly muster.

" Secret Desert Arts: Windwalk!"

Sora's eyes opened in surprise as Hibiki suddenly fazed out of existence, and his attackers all looked in surprise as he disappeared into thin air, but this only lasted less than a fraction of a second. Sora felt a rush of wind fly past her, not before one of them was tossed aside, a puncture wound in his chest. The blinding rush of wind knocked all of them aside, Hibiki rushing all over the place at a speed not even their eyes could catch up with. Sora could catch the gist of where he was heading, but all she saw was a blur of fast moving wind, blasting through the forest like a fancy looking firework.

Sora winced when someone roughly grabbed her from behind, pressing something metallic at the base of her neck. " Stop!" the shinobi demanded, trying to use Sora as a hostage. " Or I will..."

The man never finished his sentence. Sora felt warm blood splatter across her face just as he loosened his grip on her, and collapsed on the ground. A powerful, strong arm suddenly wrapped around her falling body, just before gently lifting her up. She felt herself pressed on his back, before feeling something tie her arms and waist so that she would stay in place.

" Hang on, we'll be leaving this place shortly," Hibiki replied, whispering to her as he turned slightly to look at her while he hoisted her on his back. Sora felt the rush of wind as Hibiki sped off, moving at an incredible pace despite carrying someone on his back.

Sora looked at the back of Hibiki's head as he kept moving, while there was a brilliant rush of wind blowing against her face, which felt very cool and refreshing. However, she still wasn't quite sure why Hibiki was here.

" Ahh...nothing better than feeling the rush of wind with a couple of boobs pressed behind your back..." Hibiki mused. " They've grown, apparently."

" Why you little pervert..." Sora snarled, trying to strangle him.

" Hahaha, you can strangle me later, you really wouldn't want to strangle me now when we are moving," Hibiki responded.

Hibiki skidded to a halt after a while, and Sora found herself somewhere next to a small, flowing river. Hibiki set her down gently, propping her against one of the trees. Sora coughed some more as he set her down, blood running down her mouth now. The pain in her chest started to worsen, and she held it in pain, trying not to cry out too much.

" Pfft, pathetic, you probably didn't last 5 second against them," Hibiki scoffed.

" What would you know anyway?" Sora replied, coughing some more. It slowed down later, and when it stopped, she looked up at him, before asking. " Why...?"

" Consider this. How many times do we have missions together?" Hibiki asked.

Sora looked up at him, slightly confused at the question, not sure where it would be going. " Not much, this would be the first ever since we saw you all off during the Chuunin Select Exams, right?"

" Right, and what are the chances we will be running into dangerous missions, like this one?" Hibiki asked.

" ...Not likely, at least for a couple of years, unless we are unlucky..." Sora answered, still unsure where this will be going.

" Well, assuming that we don't run into trouble like this for two years, then this means I'm holding an advantage over you, since I saved you once. This will put my score to 1-0, and you won't be able to equalise with me for the next couple of years," Hibiki replied calmly.

Sora looked up at him, in confusion, then irritation, before anger started to set in. " What?! You did this because you just want me to owe you to a debt I won't be able to repay in two years?!" she demanded, before started to cough again.

" Hush, now, better not die before I do," Hibiki replied, chuckling slightly. " Well, I must admit, it would be boring without you..."

" That's it, your dumb reason for coming back for me?" Sora asked.

Hibiki stood up and turned his back towards her. " I knew I couldn't leave you alone, and it is hardly possible for you to hide the fact you were still seriously injured. Hiroshi may still be a dumb broad in not knowing your limits, but I think I can confidently say I know you better than anyone else, perhaps even more than yourself. I may be a chauvinistic pervert, but honestly, I hate to lose my best rival I had in years," he replied. " I hate to admit this, but you have to be the first girl to give me this much entertainment since I left the academy."

Sora looked up at him in slightly awe. She wasn't sure what to say at the moment, nor was she too sure of what she felt about it.

" Well, dumb reason, but you know what, we are all fools anyway..." Hibiki replied, before readying his spear. Looking ahead of him, she saw some of their pursuers landing on the opposite side of the shore. " Sit tight, Sora. I'll deal with this rabble, then I'll come back for you, alright?"

With that, he walked on to face his enemies, his mad grin visible from a mile away.


	28. Chapter 27: Partner

**Chapter 27: Partner**

" I can't believe Hibiki just left like that! He didn't even say a word!" Suzumi was complaining while they kept moving. The fact that Hibiki made a clone to distract them so that he could go back to didn't mean they could afford to slow down one bit to contemplate on what he had done. Hibiki had already made his move, and if they wasted time on it, they will be putting Lady Kaguya at risk.

" Personally, I'm quite glad he did it, and I'm sure he'll be fine," Hiroshi replied. He was happy Hibiki was motivated enough to head back for Sora. Hiroshi often wondered if Sora and Hibiki shared some sort of awkward comradeship despite their mutual dislike for one another, and this apparently proved to be true. If anything, Hibiki's edge in speed might be able to allow him to rescue Sora and get out of that place immediately.

" He'll get himself killed!" Suzumi objected.

" No, he won't. Have faith in Hibiki. He's much better than you think. After all, if Sora's predictions are correct, he's the best amongst all of us, and he has enough skill to act independently. We'll leave it up to him for now," Hiroshi replied.

" You…don't seem…agitated…?" Suzumi mused, pondering on the correct term to describe Hiroshi.

" Should I be?" he replied. " …Did you know? That he left?"

Makoto merely turned around and looked at Hiroshi, before turning back to the front. " Yeah…it's not my role to stop him anyways…"

Hiroshi flipped around, grabbing a tree branch with his hands and swung himself around, stopping himself as the rest of them stopped in their tracks. " This is as far as I should go. I'll stay here then…" Hiroshi replied firmly.

" Hiroshi?"

" Go. There is no need for all of you to stay here. I'll be more than enough to set up an ambush," Hiroshi answered.

" Hiroshi's right," Ryouta answered. " You guys go on ahead. I'll be more than enough for company…"

Hiroshi spun around in surprise, looking as Ryouta calmly sat down on a tree branch. " Ryouta, what's the meaning of this?!" Hiroshi demanded.

He looked back serenely at him, smiling slightly. " You know, I've given Hibiki's words some thought, and guess what, I believe there is some truth in there. I don't think it's fair to leave our comrades behind, despite the situation. We are human after all, and we have what we call feelings as well," he replied.

Hiroshi scowled in his direction. " Great, you plan on getting yourself killed just to keep me company?!" Hiroshi replied, raising his eyebrows.

" No, I'm staying behind to make sure you don't kill yourself," Ryouta answered.

" Ryouta, but you must…" Makoto started.

" No exceptions. This is an order from your leader. Hiroshi and I will stay behind to set our traps, while the rest of you continue. Instructions are simple: Keep moving till you reach a tall rock wall. Stop there, and light the signal flare, two red flares simultaneously. If the people at the outpost don't see your flare, then I'm too pathetic to call myself a shinobi of Konoha. This is a personal Konoha matter, I don't need you two to further risk your lives for our cause," Ryouta replied, before snapping his fingers and motioning to Hiroshi. Hiroshi dug into his pack, digging through all the equipment, before passing two flares to Suzumi. " After that, just hold your ground. If we are lucky enough, reinforcements would be heading your way."

Hiroshi placed the flares on Suzumi's outstretched hand, but as soon as he made contact, she gripped her hand tightly, not wanting to let go. Hiroshi looked at her worried and scared expression, her head turned slightly as if to avoid his gaze.

Without warning, Hiroshi suddenly pulled Suzumi towards himself, and held her tight. She had a look of utter surprise as she suddenly felt his warm body against her chest, his strong arms holding her tightly. It took her a while, but she slowly broke into tears, crying slightly as he held her tight.

" I'm sorry, I'm going to have to say goodbye for now…" Hiroshi replied. Suzumi returned the hug, holding him with as much strength as she could muster. Hiroshi gently patted her on the head gently, before releasing her. " Go, we can't wait any longer…"

Their team split up once more, with Hiroshi and Ryouta staying behind this time, while the others headed towards safety. Suzumi kept running, trying not to look back, least she was discouraged from continuing forward. Hiroshi watched as the rest of his comrades left with Lady Kaguya in tow.

" Guess it's just the two of us now…" Ryouta replied.

" Yeah…" Hiroshi replied, sounding slightly depressed.

" …You sound dejected…" Ryouta answered cheerily.

" Isn't it always typical for the male lead to die after saying goodbye to his loved ones and leaves to do some shit like what I'm doing now?" Hiroshi replied. " Least, that's the stereotypical stuff that always happens in stories."

" What makes you think you are good enough to become a hero, and this isn't a story, or some fairy tale. This is a mission in which we are partaking in, and there will be no epic heroic end for us," Ryouta answered.

" …No shit, you and I are going to be screwed," Hiroshi replied. " Hey, Ryouta?"

" Hmm?"

" I appreciate you being here…"

-

The water of the river made a big splash as the two bodies hit the water at an extreme speed. A shock wave was emitted, and Sora winced and covered her face as she was suddenly showered in water. There was some silence, before something broke the surface of the water, sending up more jets of water, but only this time the water was mixed with blood, a lot of it.

" Hibiki!" Sora exclaimed in fear, before coughing even more. Shouting did little to improve her injuries.

There was a loud roar as Hibiki broke the surface of the river, a shinobi skewered at the end of his spear. There was a look of shock on his face, with Hibiki probably killing him in an instant. Hibiki yanked out his spear, letting the shinobi sink back into the river. Two more shinobis rose from the surface of the water, previously knocked aside by Hibiki so he could take on the other one he just killed without any distractions.

" You're hurt!" Sora exclaimed, seeing the serious gash on his right arm, which unfortunately was his dominant arm. His attacks will now lack an edge with his right arm slightly disabled.

" Quiet there! Not only are you being overly obvious, but you are being a noisy distraction as well. I don't need a girl shouting at every damn thing that happens in a fight," Hibiki replied, scowled. " Could you just sit down and keep quiet for once? Please, for just two minutes, I beg you…"

" I'm concerned, you…ack…" Sora tried to reply, only to cough some more blood.

" Don't distract me, bitch," Hibiki shot back.

" …Dipshit!" Sora replied while coughing.

Both enemy shinobis charged at him, and the chakra Hibiki had been collecting at his feet exploded, propelling him forward. The two shinobis tried to flank him, moving to his left and right respectively, but Hibiki was still much swifter than them, as he disappeared all of a sudden, before appearing behind the person on his right. He spun around, dropping slightly to avoid the spear that came in by his side, but Hibiki quickly shifted his weight, and slammed the side of the spear on his shoulder, knocking into the water.

Hibiki twisted his head aside as a kunai was suddenly flung at his direction, just before something hit his stomach and sent him splashing back into the water. He instantly flicked his elbow around, slamming into the head of the shinobi who had tackled him and sent him into the water. The shinobi freed him when he was hit, and Hibiki kicked his legs furiously, breaking through the water's surface, before taking deep gulps of air.

As he got back up, something moved at the corner of his eye. In an instant, he threw his body aside just as a wind jutsu came flying in his direction. He rolled aside upon the water's surface, his chakra control still steady enough to keep him afloat. However, just as he came to a stop, something grabbed his legs and dragged him under.

He tried to kick furiously, but his legs seem to be stuck somehow, and he frantically tried to break himself free, but to no avail. He tried to calm himself, before trying to look at what was grabbing his feet, hoping to spear the idiot in the process. However, nobody was there, nothing but water beneath his feet.

_Oh shit, he's using a water jutsu…_Hibiki thought frantically.

He started to kick with all his might, but he was stuck underwater. He wasn't sure what jutsu was used to trap him underwater, but he was too much in a state of panic to think it carefully. His lungs were already straining to take in oxygen, which he was being deprived off. His lungs were ready to burst, and after what felt like an antagonizing hour, he opened his mouth and inhaled deeply.

He figured it was strange that he was inhaling cool, crisp air. Trying to get his bearings straight, he suddenly found out that he had somehow managed to break the surface of the water somehow. Looking ahead of him, he could see why.

Sora had somehow managed to dive into the water despite her condition, and tackled the shinobi who was using the water jutsu on Hibiki. Right now, he could see her dragging him out of the water, holding him tightly by wrapping her arms around his neck.

" …Damn you, bitch…" the shinobi snarled.

" …Go to hell…" Sora replied, before twisting her arm slightly, breaking his neck in a split second. The shinobi's neck was bent in an unnatural angle, and his body lost its strength, and he fell down. All of a sudden, she released him and started to cough violently again, her recent exertion of strength in the river making her condition worse.

She looked up, only to see the remaining shinobi rush up to her, kunai in arm. She gasped in surprise, trying to move backwards, before sensing her legs failing her as she fell backwards on her rear end. The shinobi threw his hand down on her, only to hit Hibiki's shoulder as he came flying through the air to take the blow for her.

" …Hibiki!" she muttered.

" Tch, I said I could deal with these idiots by myself!" Hibiki replied smugly, grabbing the shinobi's arm that held the kunai that had embedded itself into his shoulder, before raising his spear with his other hand, ignoring the pain and blood that was flowing down his arm.

-

" I better get to work then," Hiroshi replied. He jumped down on the floor, before reaching for his pack, and digging out as many scrolls as he could find. " Pfft, I can't believe that I'm down to my last few weapon scrolls. We must have used up a lot of stuff, huh?"

" I agree," Ryouta replied.

Hiroshi bit his thumb, allowing blood to flow out, before running them along the weapon scrolls, unsealing them in the process. Ryouta watched as Hiroshi took out all the weapons he had left: metal wires, kunais, shurikens, multiple sets of tools which Ryouta could not distinguish. He instantly, leaped up a tree, carrying a spool of metal wire and some kunais with him, trying them into place, setting up his traps.

" I'm always impressed at the way you set your traps. You seem to know where to put them without wasting any time," Ryouta replied.

" Kinda comes naturally, like painting a picture. I know what's in my mind, and I just have to apply myself," Hiroshi answered, setting his kunais in place. It didn't take him more than several seconds. " Well, it's to be expected after all. I'm just too much of a pro."

" …If you are so much of a pro, why is the trap you are setting very obvious?" Ryouta noted. He could see the kunai's despite Hiroshi's attempts to conceal them behind the tree leaves. " I asked you to set up as many as you can, but having rushed work is no good."

" …Tsk, tsk, tsk, I'm insulted, and hurt, by your words…" Hiroshi replied, making a face.

" …Am I mistaken?" Ryouta asked, sounding confused.

" No, you are not mistaken, but more like you don't know me that well," Hiroshi replied.

Ryouta thought for a while, before slapping his head. " This is why I have no skill in setting traps. Of course, you made this trap obvious, so you can set a secondary one which is hidden from view, tricking our enemies into thinking that they have to avoid the first trap," he replied.

" Bingo! Trickery is everything! You are sometimes too straight…" Hiroshi replied.

" Traps aren't my thing…" Ryouta answered.

" Well, each to his own," Hiroshi answered.

Ryouta merely observed Hiroshi as he took out several spools of wire, sprinkling them with some sort of dust, before laying them out at specific points all over the place. Hiroshi worked with utmost precision, placing everything carefully at where they belong. After several minutes, a number of Hiroshi's traps were already in place, and Ryouta could not even remember where half of them were. Hiroshi barely finished setting something up, before looking up at the distance.

" Are they coming already?" he asked, having a gut feeling their enemies would be arriving anytime soon.

Ryouta merely narrowed his eyebrows as he looked at the distance. " I assume they are," he answered, tensing his muscles. " Let's do this…"

-

It only took Hibiki one try as he stabbed the unfortunate shinobi with his spear. The sharp end entered the shinobi's neck, puncturing a large hole in his throat, before the blade pierced through sinew and bones, emerging from the back of the shinobi's neck. There was an expression of utter shock on his face as blood spurted out from his wounds, drenching Hibiki in crimson. Hibiki merely gave a satisfied smile as the shinobi dropped to the ground, his body twitching periodically.

Hibiki yanked out his spear, the sound of metal tearing through flesh singing loudly in his ears, before he turned his attention towards his shoulder. The kunai was still lodged within his shoulder, and now that he took notice of it, it seemed to hurt more than ever. Gritting his teeth, he grabbed the hilt of the kunai and yanked it out, trying not to yell in pain. Sitting himself down, he ripped part of his pants off to bandage his wound, attempting not to faint from bleeding out.

" …I've got some spare bandages, you know," Sora replied, producing a small white roll and twirling it in her hands.

" Typical…you just needed to do that after I tear my pants," Hibiki sighed, quickly bandaging himself. He took a deep breath to allow his body to calm down from the recent fight, and after a while, he could only feel a dull ache on his shoulder. " …Are you sure you didn't do that on purpose?"

" …Enough, I'm killing myself trying to talk to you," Sora muttered, sounding irritated as she leaned back on the tree where she had propped herself on. " The most I'll…"

She was unable to complete her sentence because she started to cough all of a sudden, and rather violently too. Out came copious amounts of blood from her mouth, and it started to drip down her chin.

" Shit! Sora, are you alright?!" Hibiki exclaimed, jumping up and rushing towards her side. Sora still did not stop coughing, and it seemed to get worse and worse. Since he was not a medic-nin, Hibiki was not sure what he could do about Sora's condition. Whatever that was affecting her was something internal, and this was something only Suzumi or Hiroshi could fix.

The coughing subsided after a while, and Sora merely looked in a dazed manner at him. She didn't look too well, as she looked really sickly, especially with blood running from her mouth. It was like she was wasting away somehow, and Hibiki was powerless to help.

" …Do I look alright, dipshit?" Sora snarled. Hibiki was suddenly reminded of Hiroshi's statement from before: if she can still insult you, she's in perfect health. Sora started to breathe in short, pained breaths, as if she was unable to breathe properly. " …Fuck…"

" …Shit, you need help…damn it…" Hibiki muttered in panic. He considered his options. Should he track back and find the rest of them? It will take him quite a while, since he was unfamiliar with the terrain and he had broken off from the rest of the group. But it was obvious he needed to get help, because he could not help Sora, not at this state.

His attention was shifted all of a sudden when he felt Sora grip him hard on his wrists, squeezing them as she did so. Hibiki was quite surprised she still had so much strength left, despite her situation. He looked down on her, and she merely gave him a crooked smile, blood still dripping from her chin.

" …Calm down, you useless moron…I'll be…fine…mostly…" she replied, before drifting into unconsciousness.

-

" Alright, I've set everything in order. Ryouta, I've given you my instructions, so if you follow them precisely, we should be able to deal the maximum damage we can possibly inflict," Hiroshi replied, holding a few kunais in his hands, along with several strands of wire attached to his traps that he had kept hidden all over the place. " Alright, partner, let's do this."

" You bet," Ryouta answered, and both of them slapped their hands together, before moving into place to strike. Hiroshi hid himself within a tree, doing his best to blend in within the surroundings, while Ryouta moved into place, standing near the base of one of the trees.

Their enemies were drawing closer, but still, waiting for those few seconds was antagonizing. Nothing like wanting to wait for death to arrive on your doorsteps. A large bead of sweat dropped from Hiroshi's forehead as he waited, the humid climate of the forest not helping in keeping him comfortable.

However, the sound of rustling leaves told him they were close. He held the kunais in his hands tightly, while preparing the wires he was holding. All that was of utmost importance was timing.

The first few shinobis that came rushing into their area came upon Hiroshi's trap. One of them set off one of Hiroshi's wires, and his trap sprang to life, as a shower of kunais suddenly fell upon them. However, they were somehow aware of it, and in an instant, split up and headed to the lower branches for cover, only to see Ryouta right below them, his seals ready and in place, taking a deep breath.

A roar of fire suddenly shot out from Ryouta's mouth, and the intense heat started to burn everything in its path. Two shinobis were incinerated by his flames, but the others got away, but not for long. One of them quickly avoided Ryouta's attack by jumping aside, to only trip on one of Hiroshi's wires. Something zipped through the air, and all of a sudden, he was decapitated by a well placed strike from a windmill shuriken.

Ryouta immediately rushed towards the left. Hiroshi had already given him directions in where to run to avoid his traps, least he accidentally set them off. Several smoke bombs went off at once, courtesy of Hiroshi. Ryouta used the confusion to attack two shinobis, striking them in the chest, killing them instantly.

So far, so good. Hiroshi's plan was going smoothly. Most of the shinobis were being stalled by his traps, and with Ryouta's help, stalling them was being too easy. Hiroshi figured they would need to fall back in about a minute, after he had run out of traps. He gave one of his wires a pull, setting off a trap some distance away, netting a shinobi in a large wire net.

" Oh, pretty good. I wasn't informed of a trap specialist in your team," a voice suddenly spun around.

Hiroshi spun around in alarm, only to feel something clamp upon his neck, crushing his windpipe, before lifting him up. The powerful force slammed his against a tree, forcing him to expel all the air in his lungs. The figure merely glared at him, his dark red eyes glaring at him in glee.

" You shinobi of Konoha had stalled us for long enough. Today, we will finish you all off completely," the man said, while Hiroshi started to suffocate from the lack of oxygen being supplied to his brain. He tried to pry the fingers open, but he found that the man's strength was oppressive, and he didn't have the tenacity to fight back. " Die, brat!"


	29. Chapter 28: The Vermillion Windcutter

**Chapter 28: The Vermillion Windcutter**

" Hiroshi!"

Hiroshi suddenly felt the grip around his neck slacken, and he fell back onto the ground all of a sudden. He suddenly took a deep breath, inhaling the sweet taste of oxygen, breaking his mind off from its stupor. As his head started to clear up, he looked up to see what had happened.

Ryouta had suddenly sprung in from nowhere, sending a flying kick towards the man's head. However, the man managed to block Ryouta's kick with his hands easily. Ryouta tried to break off, but he found that his legs had been caught by the man's right hand, and less than a second later, he was flying through the air at an alarming speed, crashing into the ground in a heap.

He had barely any time to recover when he felt something slam into his gut. He felt a powerful shock blast through his body, and Ryouta started to cough out blood. Looking up dizzily, he noticed the man had already approached him, and slammed his fist into his stomach.

_What speed! Matching even Sora's, or even better..._Ryouta thought. _This guy has to be an elite jounin, nothing less..._

The man threw his hand down, threatening to crush Ryouta's skull. He barely made it as he crossed his arms together as his arm came crashing down, gritting at the insane force that was being applied. However, he barely had time to hold him back, because his other arm came in and grabbed him by his forehead, lifting him up.

" You must be the infamous Phoenix of Konoha....hmm, pretty impressive for one so young, but it shall end here," the man spoke.

" Hands off!"

Hiroshi came flying out of nowhere, before sending a kick at the man's abdomen. He might as well have a better chance trying to break a stone wall with his feet than the man, because Hiroshi's foot stung when his feet made contact, and he fell back, his foot aching slightly.

" Silly boy, you need to do better than that," the man said.

" Don't worry, I will," Ryouta replied, before grabbing the man's arm that was holding him in place.

The man suddenly pulled his hand back in a flash, and Ryouta was suddenly back on the ground, smoke rising from his hand. The man grinned as Ryouta glared at him with an intensity that could kill. Ryouta managed to heat his hands up to an unbearable degree, and he was hoping to at least disable the man's arm, but he wasn't quick enough. Hiroshi slipped up next to him, pulling out a kunai and bracing himself.

" Sorry I wasn't of much help," Hiroshi apologised.

" No need for that. You distracted him enough, and I was able to buy my escape. You have my thanks," Ryouta answered.

All of a sudden, several more shinobi dropped down to the ground some distance behind their attacker. Ryouta tensed up, knowing with their numbers, they would be annihilated in an instant.

" Kazuki, do you require aid?" one of them asked.

" No need. I'll deal with these troublesome brats in an instant. Our goal is Lady Kaguya. Take your forces and head there immediately. I will join up with you once I settle these two idiots," the man named Kazuki answered.

" Will do," the shinobi replied, before jumping away. Hiroshi wondered if it was a great stroke of luck that this man ordered his subordinates to leave, although they were still in a precarious situation, considering how dangerous this man was.

Ryouta frowned as he glared at the man. " Kazuki? You can't mean Marimo Kazuki, from the Hidden Mist village, the one they call the Vermillion Windcutter?!" Ryouta exclaimed.

" Oh, I see that you have a good memory of the people in the bingo book," Kazuki laughed.

Hiroshi suddenly felt a little scared. The Bingo book was none other than a compilation of shinobis from various countries that were considered dangerous by Konoha standards. If this man was in the bingo book, he was no doubt dangerous, as his combat abilities had already proved. This foe would prove troublesome, even with Ryouta at full power at his side.

Kazuki had a large build, standing almost 6 feet tall and his sinews were popping all over the place. He could almost easily crush Hiroshi with his bare hands alone. He had jet black hair and dark red eyes that glared at them with an intensity so strong Hiroshi had to hold back from vomiting.

" ...So you are indeed him," Ryouta replied.

" Yes, I am. Honoured as I am that you should know my name, it won't change the fact that I will have to dispose off both of you today. It is a shame, Phoenix of Konoha," Kazuki laughed, before turning to Hiroshi. " And who is this fool? I don't know him..."

Hiroshi wasn't sure how to respond. He felt very irritated, as if he was some sort of ornament that people cannot be bothered with when compared to Ryouta, but he wasn't in the mood to complain about it.

" He's my teammate, Suzuki Hiroshi, my partner whom can trust my life with," Ryouta replied, smirking. Hiroshi merely looked at Ryouta when he said those words, and he wondered if he was blushing at the moment or not.

" Hiroshi, listen...this guy is dangerous, probably at the level of an elite jounin. He's not someone I can match with on my own, so I need you to back me up," Ryouta whispered to Hiroshi.

" So, what now?" Hiroshi asked.

" ...I don't exactly know the extent of his abilities, but he seems to be proficient in the use of taijutsu, and he has the speed, build and the power to back him up. He will be a tough opponent to handle close up, even with my ninjutsu capabilities," Ryouta answered, still in a whisper. " Here's the general plan: I'll strike at him in close range combat, and you support me from the rear. Keep him distracted while I go for the kill. We need to do this fast and quick to end this before he gains the upper hand,"

" Hey, what's all this whispering about?" Kazuki suddenly spoke.

Ryouta suddenly felt an oppressive killing aura surrounding all of a sudden, and it made it hard to breathe properly. Ryouta had never experienced a killing aura this violent before. It felt as if he was excreting death from the very pores of his body. Ryouta forced himself to stay sharp, because once the man gains a slight advantage, they would die in an instant.

" Die!" Kazuki exclaimed, shooting towards them at a breakneck speed.

" Split!" Ryouta exclaimed, tearing off to the right, only to notice something wrong with Hiroshi.

He didn't move, or perhaps to be more exact he couldn't. Hiroshi had a look of shock on his face, and colour seemed to have been drained from his face. His entire body was trembling in fright, and Ryouta silently cursed to himself to not notice it earlier. Kazuki had just executed a genjutsu, emitting his killing aura to confuse and frightened Hiroshi, paralysing him with fright. Ryouta grinded his feet on the ground, and bounded back towards Hiroshi as fast has his legs could possibly catch up with.

Just as Kazuki was about to land a blow upon Hiroshi, Ryouta came barging in from the right, slamming his shoulders onto Hiroshi, knocking him aside. Hiroshi gave a grunt as he felt the impact of Ryouta ramming into him to get him out of harm's way. Hiroshi felt himself hit the ground hard, scrapping his arms slightly.

Ryouta raised his hands to block the on-coming blow. Kazuki slammed his hands down hard on Ryouta. Ryouta gritted his teeth when he felt the oppressive feel of Kazuki's strength pressing down on him. Kazuki's other arm swooped in to strike him, but Ryouta nimbly leaped backwards to avoid the attack. Kazuki tried to slip his arm through to hit his face, but Ryouta advanced forward, grabbing hold of his forearm, which he immediately retracted once he felt the burning heat of Ryouta's hands.

" Heh, I see...you lack the edge in taijutsu, so you enhance your abilities with your fire jutsu...pretty neat technique," Kazuki replied.

All of a sudden, Kazuki disappeared from view. Ryouta spun around, expecting him to be right behind him, but despite his quick reflexes, Kazuki was a tad bit faster. Ryouta saw the arm swinging towards his face, but he was helpless to avoid it. A massive force struck his face hard, and he was sent crashing into a tree, the force damaging the trunk, splintering it all over the place.

As he tried to pick himself up, a shadow suddenly covered him, and looking upwards, he saw Kazuki standing right above him. He grabbed him by his neck and lifted him up, picking him up like some rag doll. However, just as he was about to slam Ryouta back on the ground, there was a soft snapping sound, before a few wires wrapped themselves around his arm.

" Let Ryouta go!" Hiroshi exclaimed, pulling as hard as he could. The slight tug made Kazuki drop Ryouta, but it wasn't enough to make him lose his balance.

" Don't make me laugh, kid! Come here!" Kazuki snarled, yanking the wires. With the sudden tug, Hiroshi felt himself fly through the air, his weight and strength apparently not enough to anchor him to the ground. With expert precision, Kazuki caught Hiroshi by his neck, before slamming him onto Ryouta, who was just in the process of picking himself up. " See ya!"

He gave a violent boot, and sent both of them flying aside, crashing onto the ground some distance away. Both boys groaned in pain as they tried to get up. Ryouta's back was now killing him, and he staggered to his feet to the best of his capabilities. He had to recover quickly, because Kazuki was sure not going to give them time to counter-attack.

" It's over, punks!" Kazuki exclaimed, feeling confident he could take down both of them. He dashed at top speed towards Ryouta, who was already on his feet. Ryouta immediately started to form hand seals, preparing his jutsus. " Not fast enough, boy!" Kazuki exclaimed, before throwing his fist towards Ryouta's face.

However, Ryouta suddenly raised his hand, and all of a sudden, the spot on his palm exploded in a large blast. Kazuki shifted his direction in a split second, the blast missing him by fractions. Skidding aside, he saw Ryouta standing with his hands in front of him, both of them on fire.

" I'll show you why they call me the Phoenix of Konoha, and I'll show you I'm not to be taken lightly," Ryouta replied.

Kazuki merely smirked at the sight of him boldly challenging him. " Oh, is that so? Come now, boy! Entertain me!" Kazuki exclaimed.

" With pleasure!" Ryouta shouted back.

Kazuki suddenly felt a slight tremor beneath him, before he noticed something moving beneath his feet. All of a sudden, the earth where he stood suddenly gave way. He leaped back in an instant, only to see some parts of the earth burst out from the ground. Ryouta ran straight for him, blasting the chunks of rocks out of the way, before taking a deep breath and blowing out fire from his mouth.

Kazuki avoided the fire, but something flew at him from the side, before hitting Ryouta's flame and combusting into a large explosion. Ryouta cursed slightly as he saw Kazuki escape the blast unharmed. Hiroshi had directed a wind jutsu from another direction, but it wasn't enough to catch him off guard.

" Not bad, not bad at all," Kazuki replied, grinning happily at Ryouta.

" This guy is insane," Hiroshi replied, moving behind Ryouta.

" No doubt, that's why we need to take him down quickly!" Ryouta replied, before charging at Kazuki.

Kazuki moved aside as Ryouta fired another shot of fire at him. Looking upwards, he saw Kazuki making for the trees, zigzagging along the branches. Ryouta bounded up one of the trees closest to him, keeping an eye for Kazuki.

Kazuki suddenly shot out from a higher branch on his left, the sounds of twigs snapping loudly as he leaped at Ryouta. Ryouta instinctively dropped his body while Kazuki's leg flew over his head, feeling the rush of wind blow against his face. Kazuki did a backflip in mid-air, and was just about to land a kick on Ryouta's back when something flew next to him. He reflexively moved his arms, knocking away several shurikens that came at him.

Hiroshi was below him, having fired his weapon launchers. Ryouta came charging towards him as he was slightly distracted, his hands roaring with fire. Kazuki retaliated by charging at him in turn, but Ryouta snapped his fingers, and all of a sudden, he was engulfed in a massive fire, with the heat so high Kazuki was forced to back off even though the flames had not reached him yet.

" Hoh, no shit," Kazuki muttered, seeing Ryouta step out from the flame, unharmed.

" No shit, indeed," Ryouta replied.

Kazuki flung something towards Ryouta, and Ryouta caught sight of it being an explosive note. Ryouta merely chuckled as he raised his hands in front of him, the wave of heat passing over him like a mere wind. His secret to not burning himself while activating his signature technique was to actually coat himself in a chakra protective layer that almost nullifies heat, not to mention he was fairly resistant to heat anyway. This was one of the reason why his technique drains up so much chakra, because this coat has to be always on. However, it also can be used to repel other fire based attacks, even explosive notes. The explosive note was a joke in front of his jutsu.

" You have got to be kidding me," Ryouta replied, bracing himself for an attack, but surprisingly it didn't come. Looking around, he saw Kazuki had already left the branch he was standing on, and if he didn't go for Ryouta, it could only mean that he was headed for the other available target here.

" Shit!" Ryouta exclaimed as he saw Kazuki speeding off towards where Hiroshi was standing. He leaped off the branch and gave chase, but he knew with Kazuki's skill in taijutsu, he would be a few seconds too late, and in a fight between shinobi, a few seconds could mean a difference between life and death. " Hiroshi, move!"

" Too late!" Kazuki exclaimed gleefully. " Freeze!"

Hiroshi was once again rooted to the spot, caught once more in the fear-inducing genjutsu Kazuki had used earlier on him. Kazuki figured Hiroshi was an easy prey, if he could trap him with genjutsu so easily. Hiroshi merely stood there, too scared to move. Kazuki merely raised his arm, wanting to make just this one strike count.

Only thing was, Hiroshi suddenly crossed his arms in front of him, and blocked the strike with all his might.

" What?! How did you break out from my genjutsu?!" Kazuki exclaimed in shock.

Hiroshi didn't answer, but merely spat something out of his mouth. A sudden rush of wind flew towards Kazuki's face. Kazuki avoided the attack by shifting his head aside slightly, only to realise that the blast wasn't directly aimed at him.

" Oh, shit!" Kazuki exclaimed, before realising that Ryouta was already right behind him.

Ryouta caught the Wind Bullet in his flaming hands, and the jutsu combusted before exploding in a large blast of heat. Kazuki broke away from Hiroshi's grip just in the nick of time just before he managed to suffer any severe burns.

" Now!" Ryouta shouted.

Kazuki turned his attention towards Hiroshi, only to see him do nothing at all. Ryouta merely did a feint, charging at Kazuki while he was slightly distracted. Kazuki swiftly moved backwards, not wanting to deal with Ryouta in close-combat, least he got himself burned in the attempt. However, his six sense told him something was up, and he instinctively looked behind him.

Two windmill shurikens shot out from behind him out of nowhere. Kazuki flung his kunai to hit the top on, deflecting the angle of its trajectory slightly, before making a backflip, arcing his body at such an angle that both windmill shurikens passed his body as he flipped over.

" Shit, it missed!" Hiroshi exclaimed.

_A double feint...that trap expert already had something set up. When that fire guy gave the signal, it served not as a deterrent to focus his attention on his friend, but the opposite was true..._Kazuki thought. _Looks like their teamwork is top-notch. _

However, just as he landed on the ground, he noticed something sizzling on the ground, an explosive note he did not notice before. He tore to the right, placing enough distance between himself and the note to avoid getting serious injuries from the blast, but still close enough to allow the smoke and dust from the blast to cover his tracks slightly.

" Heh, a good move, but I can play better than that," Kazuki replied, smiling.

However, the explosive note went off, and Kazuki was flung across the field like a discarded piece of trash, skidding on the ground and almost hitting the trees. He winced in pain, his shoulders slightly charred.

_Not possible, that blast...that explosion was bigger than a normal explosive note!_ Kazuki thought.

Hiroshi pulled out one of his last few remaining weapon scrolls, a black scroll with green crosses on it. Biting his thumb, he laced the scroll with his blood, before unsealing whatever that was inside. The contents of the scroll spilled all over the place, their field of combat now littered with weapons all over the place, a battleground covered in steel.

" Welcome to my Azure Forest!" Hiroshi exclaimed gleefully.

" You've got to be kidding me, you are dropping your weapons for me?!" Kazuki yelled back, picking up a nearby sword. Just as his grasped his hands on the hilt, the blade of the sword slipped out from the hilt and hit the ground, before small, hidden knives within the hilt were ejected, cutting Kazuki's fingers.

" You've got to be stupid enough to be picking up my weapons!" Hiroshi exclaimed, before flicking his hands. Kazuki saw his fingers tossing out chakra strings, attaching themselves to the weapons around him, before firing them at high speeds towards Kazuki.

Kazuki dodged the first barrage, two maces and several blades fling right at him, but before he could spring back to attack, two kunais flew past him from behind, grazing his cheeks. He turned around, only to almost miss being struck by a flying sword.

_Damn it, he's using weapons like his puppets, only since they are sprawled all over the place, he can launch them from anywhere, especially my blind spots_, Kazuki thought to himself. _Then, all I need to do is to get away from his field of weapons._ Thus, he skidded backwards in an instant, his speed allowing him to escape, leaping backwards faster than Hiroshi could react. However, when he tried to move, he found that it was impossible to do so.

" And thus, the curtain falls," Ryouta replied calmly.

" What?!" Kazuki exclaimed.

All around him were small, fine strings of wire that was almost invisible to the naked eye, unless one took the effort to carefully look around. Kazuki had somehow managed to wander into a field of these fine wires, and his entire body was wrapped with them, and despite being so fine, they were almost an unbreakable force in a large volume. It was effectively like walking into a spider's net, once caught, there was no escape.

" Guess this is the end..." Ryouta replied, walking in front of his, his hands still burning in a fiery passion.

"...Bastard..." Kazuki muttered, straining his muscles just to attempt to escape, but it was to no avail. The wires were as strong as a spider's net, and Kazuki was like a fly caught within it. Even with his tremendous strength, he would not be able to break free even if he tried. " ...To think I would slip up over a mistake in using my genjutsu...you guys are quite a team to come up with something this fast. I bet this trap was prepared just in case you faced someone like me, right?"

" Yes, I placed that into consideration, and I guess it payed off," Ryouta replied. " However, you are mistaken on the part about your genjutsu."

Kazuki looked up at him in surprise. " ...What?"

" To simply put, I wasn't even affected by your genjutsu in the first place," Hiroshi answered.

Kazuki's eyes widened at the implications of his words. This meant that Hiroshi took that attack on purpose when Kazuki used his genjutsu. From the start of the fight, Kazuki was already being played by them. All of their moves cumulated to him being caught in this trap. But if that was so, it would mean they had planned their attacks from the beginning. However, they didn't even have any time to discuss any plans, yet their attack pattern was so intricate, it was like...

" Like I said, Hiroshi's my best partner," Ryouta replied, before the flame in his hands started to heat up to an insane temperature, the palms of his hands now burning blue. " Elite jounin and all, guess you were a bit too cocky. This is your punishment for underestimating us!"

" Damn you!" Kazuki screamed.

Ryouta took a deep breath, and breathed out a massive flamethrower. However, this was unlike any other fire attacks Ryouta had used before. The fire itself seemed to be sucking in the air, as if it was taking in more oxygen to fuel its flames. The oxygen saturated flame burned blue, and it burned fast. With a beastly roar, the flames tore through the ground, disintegrating everything in its path due to the sheer temperatures it could produce, before hitting Kazuki. Even the surrounding trees were incinerated in an instant, those standing directly in its path disappearing within seconds. Everything else along the way burned in a crimson flame.

As Ryouta finished blowing out his fire, the flames in his hands subsided, having expending his chakra supply. Continuing to keep his jutsu now was pointless, since their opponent had been defeated. He took a deep breath, breathed a sigh of relief, before rounding upon Hiroshi.

" You idiot, do you know crazy it was, when you took that chance?!" Ryouta exclaimed, although from the tone of his voice, he didn't sound mad. Hiroshi looked at his face, before bursting into laughter. " Stop laughing, I got beaten up because of it!"

" I'm sorry, but...I thought it would be a great move. You did well, keeping up with me," Hiroshi replied.

" Keeping up with you? I was the one who suggested that 'trap' in the first place," Ryouta replied, before both boys started to laugh out loud, relaxed now that the danger was over. It was a close brush with death, against such an opponent, but they managed to pull through, and they were still alive. That was quite an achievement, and Ryouta didn't stop Hiroshi as they kept laughing about the situation. However, he had to cut it short, since there were more pressing matters at hand. " Alright, jokes aside, now that we have dealt with Kazuki..."

Ryouta stopped when he saw Hiroshi dash at him. He wasn't sure what it was, but Hiroshi had a look of fear on his face when he ran towards him. Ryouta wasn't sure whether the laughter or the lack of chakra was making him sluggish, but he felt something behind him, something he should have sensed but did not. Hiroshi leaped at him, grabbing him by the shoulders before moving him aside forcefully.

Something warm and fluid splattered across his face, before he felt a painful sting on his face as someone cut him on his cheeks. However, all the blood that was now smeared all over his body was not his own, but from Hiroshi's. Ryouta felt his heart skip a beat when he saw Hiroshi, standing in front of him, glaring back at the enemy that should have been dead. Right were his left arm should have been was now a bloody stump, his arm being severed off from its joint, now lying on the grassy floor.

" ...Hi...ro...shi...?" Ryouta gasped.

" ...Never underestimate your enemies...an excellent piece of advice, one that I always carry to heart. Thanks for reminding me, kid," Kazuki spoke to him, now standing on top of one of the tree branches. " That is why I always keep a trump card for this occasion..."

Ryouta looked up at him in utter shock and fear. He was certain he should have incinerated Kazuki, and not even his bones would have been left, nothing but ash and dust. He was slightly distracted from Kazuki at the sight of blood spurting out of Hiroshi's wound, just before Hiroshi fell to his knees.

" ...Fuck..." he muttered, before hitting the forest floor.


	30. Chapter 29: Holding the Line

**Chapter 29: Holding the Line**

Makoto, Kira and Suzumi came to a complete stop when they stumbled across a large rock wall. From the looks of it, they would need to scale the wall to continue on, but according to Ryouta's orders, it wasn't necessary. The people at the outpost should be able to spot them from here, and it was close enough for Makoto's standards.

" This spot here will do fine. Light them!" Makoto ordered. Suzumi merely nodded her head, and ignited the flares Hiroshi gave her, firing them up into the sky. Two bright red flares shot up towards the sky, and Makoto hoped that help would arrive soon. From the number of sounds he could hear, they will not last long if the enemy catches up to them.

" Should we continue moving?" Suzumi asked.

" No, we don't know the terrain that well, we might risk losses in heading into unknown territory. This place is well suited to defend ourselves, just so long as they don't have competent Rock-nins who can collapse this wall, we should do fine for the meantime," Makoto replied. " We will set our defenses here. Suzumi, I need to you get your genjutsu ready. I don't care what you do, just throw in your most potent mix. Kira, hide Lady Kaguya safe, and take note of our surroundings. I'm going to keep an eye…or 'ear' on our enemies."

Kira merely nodded, before heading towards the rock wall. Makoto focused his chakra to his ears, sharpening his hearing to levels normally not achievable by common means. His brain was now processing all the information that was passing through his ears, and he was processing them as fast as possible.

He could picture the entire area within his mind, as if his brain was acting like some sort of radar. He could hear people moving some distance away, and from the sounds of it, there were roughly twenty of them, give or take. There could be more, it was just they had not fallen into Makoto's hearing range yet. Makoto figured it would only be a matter of time.

He tried to widen his scope, hoping to pick up traces of his friends, although he could not find them. This gave Makoto some cause for concern. At this distance, he was pretty sure he would not be able to sense where Hibiki and Sora was, but he was pretty sure he was still within range to pick up signals from Hiroshi and Ryouta. He didn't want to think he could not hear them because they were dead, and he was just hoping that just perhaps, they had just left the area due to unforeseen circumstances.

However, he did pick up some unknown noises. He tried to focus on those noises, only to realize what he was hearing.

" It's Hiroshi, isn't it?" Suzumi suddenly spoke.

Makoto spun around in utter surprise, looking at Suzumi as he was halfway preparing her equipment and weapons. " What the…?" he mused.

-

Kira placed Lady Kaguya gently on the base of a tree, making sure not to drop her too hard when he placed her on the ground. Lady Kaguya had stopped crying, but her eyes were still red with tears. When he was done, he walked off to join Makoto and Suzumi in their defensive act, drawing his twin daggers from their sheaths.

" Kira…?" Lady Kaguya muttered as he left. Kira stopped in his tracks, before looking back at Lady Kaguya. She raised her hand slightly, as if trying to grab hold of him, not wanting him to leave. Kira merely looked at her passively, like he always did. Lady Kaguya could not tell what he was feeling. Did he feel sorrow, sadness, or pain? She was suffering from all three, but it was unknown whether he felt the same.

" Yes…Lady Kaguya?" he responded.

" …Do you…feel sorrow?" she asked.

He looked at her, and she wondered if it was a puzzled look he was giving her. Lady Kaguya could remember the time she met him along with Tayu, in the middle of a crowded street. He was most certainly annoyed as he was forced to keep Tayu company, yet perhaps it was an act of chivalry that compelled him to stay by her side. Ever since, Kira had been training to serve has her bodyguard, and Lady Kaguya appreciated his presence. Still, there were sometimes when she felt that she could never understand what Kira thought of. He had never opened his heart to anyone before, save perhaps Tayu. Lady Kaguya was concerned about him right now.

" …No, I don't…I'm not sad…" Kira answered.

" …You are not?" Lady Kaguya asked, wiping her tears.

" …No, because to use the word sad for what I am feeling right now can be perfectly described as an understatement," Kira answered, before walking off. " Stay here, Lady Kaguya. I shall deal with these heathens, and I will make them pay…"

-

" How'd you…?"

" Makoto, don't insult me. I've been your teammate for so long now, so despite your attempts to hide your emotions, every twitch and movement can be registered, and I can read your expression even if I am looking at a blank face," Suzumi replied, before looking depressed. " …It's Hiroshi, right? I know it's him…I just know…"

Tears started to fall from her cheeks, dropping onto the ground as Suzumi sobbed quietly to herself. Makoto wanted to comfort her, probably hug her and hold her tight, but that might just upset her even more, so he just stood there, blankly staring at her.

" …You shouldn't be able to 'hear' where Sora and Hibiki is, so whoever it was that made you changed to a worried expression was either Ryouta or Hiroshi…and I don't want to think bad of Hiroshi, but…but if it was between him and Ryouta…him and…Ryouta," Suzumi spoke, sobbing uncontrollably now. " …I…I just…"

Before Makoto could do anything, Kira suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Without warning, he picked her up from her kneeling position and hugged her tightly, holding her close to her. Makoto could only drop his jaw when he saw them in a comforting embrace. He wondered what Hiroshi would say if he was in his position.

" I'm sorry…my condolences…this is the best I can do," Kira replied quietly, patting her on her head. Suzumi's sobs started to stop after a while, and her breathing calmed down after that. After a while, she broke away from Kira, pushing him back gently.

" It's okay, I'll be fine," she replied, wiping the tears from her face.

-

" What the hell do you think you are doing?!"

Two Konoha guards who were on duty looked up in a bored fashion from their shogi board as they saw their captain enter the room in the watch tower, only to find them fooling around during guard duty. Their captain was ready to burst, his veins literally popping from his forehead, but the two guards didn't seem to mind the captain, and in fact, continued with their game casually.

" Urm, I thought that was quite obvious?," one of them replied.

" That was a rhetorical question, you morons! How dare you play games while on guard duty?! Do you understand the importance of keeping watch here?!" the captain exclaimed.

" Oh, don't mind them, captain. It can get kinda boring keeping watch here. Let them have some fun once in a while," another shinobi in the room, a kunoichi, replied, as she folded her arms while leaning next to an observation window. " Frankly, I'm more than enough, but I understand your concern."

" Listen here, our nation is in a crisis situation right now, with our strained relationship with the Grass Lords. The convoy that has set out to escort Lady Kaguya, our only hope to ease the problems, has not reported back yet. If this continues any longer, we might just have a civil war at our hands. Considering the circumstances, I was hoping you all would display a little more discipline," the captain replied.

" Well, I guess that's them," the first chess player replied.

" What?!"

" The convoy, I think they are here," the second chess player answered, pointing at the window.

Looking outside, the captain saw two red flares being fired up into the air some distance away. If anything, it meant that it was a distress signal, and it was most likely the convoy that was escorting Lady Kaguya.

The last guy in the room suddenly jumped up from his chair, and slammed his fists together, making the rest of them turned their heads towards him. " Yosh, this means it's time for me to make an entrance. Old granny's prediction was right on the mark," the young man replied. " Okay, you guys take care of this place. I'll go and help the convoy."

-

" I think they are here," Makoto replied, hearing approaching sounds coming towards where they were. He turned around to face the direction where the enemy was supposed to come, preparing himself for the very worst. At best, he would have to buy time for Lady Kaguya for now. He sure as hell hoped that Ryouta was correct in relying on reinforcements to arrive, because if they didn't come soon enough, they were as good as dead. " Ready?" he asked.

Kira merely flicked out his daggers, not speaking a word as he stood calmly against a raging storm, his expression about as bored as he would ever be. Suzumi merely nodded her head, looking determined to see this through.

" We don't have much forces to hold them out, so I'd suggest that…"

" …you leave them to me," Suzumi completed his sentence.

" What? What are you talking about?" Makoto asked, sounding confused.

" I said, you can leave them to me. I will deal with them properly, you two just need to follow up," Suzumi replied darkly, before forming her hands seals, each once done in perfect rhythm. " …I'll just deal with them all…"

" Suzumi…" Makoto replied, walking up to her, but he was suddenly stopped by Kira.

" Forget it, let her do what she wants now. We will just have to rely on that," Kira replied. " Don't lose focus, they are here now!"

Makoto spun around, only before one of the shinobis leaped from the trees out into the open, as if challenging him to stop him. He was quickly followed by his other members, who quickly leaped off the tree branches, before running immediately towards them, their weapons and jutsus prepared.

" Mystical Illusion Technique: Frozen Plains of the North!"

In that very instant, Makoto felt a powerful blast pass through him. It wasn't physical, and he knew it was just his mind playing tricks on him, but he couldn't help but feel cold. He felt as if a snowstorm had just passed through the area. He could not see, but his ears were picking unfamiliar noises, telling him despite the cold freezing wind he was feeling, there was no wind blowing against his body. The rest of the shinobis suddenly slowed down, as if frozen to the spot, holding their arms against their bodies.

" Shit, Suzumi, don't hit me as well!" Makoto exclaimed.

" I can't help it. You know it's an illusion anyway," Suzumi replied darkly, and Makoto could hear the hint of maliciousness in her voice, as if she was about to tear everyone who dared stand in front of her apart into pieces. " Go get them!"

Kira moved first towards the closest shinobi he could find, who surprised Makoto that he could still move so quickly despite the insanely powerful genjutsu Suzumi was casting around the place, as if he was being unaffected at all. The first shinobi tried to react, but his movements were sluggish. Kira knocked his hand that came up aside, before closing the distance and slamming the edge of his weapon into the base of his neck, killing him instantly, before moving towards his next target.

Makoto stepped up to attack as well, just as the rest of them tried to escape. Makoto prepared his jutsu, before channeling chakra to the palm of his hands, exploding it in a powerful gust of wind. The blast knocked all the shinobis that stood in his way aside, sending their bodies flying away. With Suzumi trapping them in her genjutsu, they were basically sitting ducks. Makoto just had to keep constantly tell himself the pain coming from the freezing sensation around him was just an illusion.

Makoto had not seen it in action much, so he had quite forgotten how potent Suzumi's genjutsu could get. This one was a special one where Suzumi casted sensory illusion, giving the enemy a powerful image of a false environment, in this case freezing winds, which the mind could sometime just accept it as true, allowing her to make a fool out of their nerves. It was a combination of tricking their sense of touch as well as their sense of sight, giving them an image of a snow storm. Makoto had never been able to 'see' the genjutsu in its full splendor, but from what Hibiki told him, it was pretty awesome.

Makoto merely engaged the next shinobi, since he was getting a bit tired from using his wind jutsus so many times. However, his enemies were still being very sluggish, and his mind was telling him that his surroundings was still freezing cold. He was pretty sure Suzumi could not use this level of genjutsu for so long. He counted at least 20 people around him, and to use a genjutsu to hold out twenty people for more than a minute with this level of power was just too much for a Chuunin. Makoto skidded to a halt, before realizing something had happened to Suzumi.

She had just dropped to her knees, her nose bleeding profoundly. She clenched her teeth hard, trying to withstand the genjutsu as long as possible. The strain she was putting on her chakra coils in her body was damaging her, making some of her arteries burst. Blood continued to seep out from her nose, and she looked like she had difficulty breathing.

" Suzumi!" Makoto cried out in alarm.

" I'm fine! Just kill them all!" she shouted back at him.

Just as she screamed, something exploded within the vicinity. Makoto felt himself being tossed aside from the blast. He could not feel any heat, thus it was unlikely it was an explosion from an explosive note, not to mention it carried more force than a normal explosive note could handle. Suzumi gave a cry of surprise, falling backwards, with Kira catching her just in time.

" What the hell just happened?!" Makoto exclaimed.

Right in front of him was what looked like a blast crater, except there was no burn marks, nor black charred ground, nothing but a bit hole in the ground, semi-circle in shape, as it someone had dug a perfectly carved hole in the ground. Makoto figured that was caused by the blast he felt, but he had absolutely no idea how in the world it was caused. The rest of the shinobis started to pick themselves up, wary now that they had just been hit by another surprise attack.

" Hey, what's this?! Picking on the weak? Hardly acceptable, isn't it? I'll be taking over things from here on out," someone shouted towards them.

Makoto, Kira and Suzumi turned to look up the rock face, only to see a young adult shinobi standing there. He had a smug look on his face as he crossed his arms, looking down at them with a cocky, or silly, grin on his face. He was obviously from Konoha, as the headband stated.

_Reinforcements? One GUY?!_ Makoto thought to himself.

" Don't worry, looks like it's one guy. After using a jutsu that powerful, he can't last too long!" one of the shinobis exclaimed.

" Oh, really?" the newcomer replied. " When I said I was taking over, I mean 'us'."

He raised his hands and formed a hand seal that was unfamiliar to Makoto. All of a sudden, multiple clones appeared all around him, and it took Makoto a while to realize there was just too many clones he was creating to even count. From the sound they made, it dawned on him that all of them were fully charged Shadow clones.

" This is impossible…he can't make all these clones…" Makoto gasped, before realizing something. " Wait…the Jinchuriki of the Leaf…"

_Writer's note: It's be rude for me to not make 'him' have a cameo, at the very least..._


	31. Chapter 30: Sato Ryouta

**Chapter 30: Sato Ryouta**

Ryouta was gasping heavily, carrying a bleeding Hiroshi in his arms, seemingly unconscious right now, while he continued to rush as fast as he could carry himself away from the area. He had hastily constructed two mud clones to keep Kazuki busy, but he was pretty sure they would not last long, not to mention he didn't have much chakra to supply to his clones to fight too long anyway. But that was of little concern right now. What was more important to him to think about was the bleeding body he was carrying.

Ryouta skidded to a halt in a clearing, before setting Hiroshi down. His entire left arm had been cut clean off, and Ryouta didn't have the luxury of retrieving his arm. Blood kept pouring out from his wound, and the colour was draining from Hiroshi's fast, and he looked horridly pale now.

" Stop...stop the bleeding....I need to stop the bleeding," Ryouta muttered in a panic, knowing that Hiroshi was loosing too much blood. If he wasted any more seconds now, Hiroshi might just die from the loss of blood. He held his hand on his wound, trying to apply pressure on it, but the blood still came pouring out, much less now since there wasn't much volume in him now, but still a lot nevertheless. " Fuck, a bandage, I need a bandage!"

Ryouta didn't bother rummaging through Hiroshi's packs to find the bandages, it would probably be too late by the time he found the medical pack. He tore out his standard issue vest, before taking off his shirt, trying to stem the bleeding with his attire, but blood seeped through the cloth, and it didn't look like the bleeding was going to stop.

" God damn it, stop bleeding!" Ryouta wailed.

" ...rise..." Hiroshi muttered, his voice barely above a whisper.

" ...What?" Ryouta gasped, realising Hiroshi was trying to speak to him for a while.

" ...Cauterise....cauterise it..." Hiroshi moaned.

Ryouta knew what he meant, but he wasn't sure he wanted to do it. But he was sure that if he didn't close the wound, Hiroshi would die, and he would do so in a few more seconds. Gritting his teeth, his hands suddenly became alight with flame.

" Forgive me, Hiroshi..." Ryouta replied.

Hiroshi screamed in pain, his voice weak and hoarse, as he felt a burning sensation of where his arm used to be. Ryouta gritted his teeth, as if he was suffering from the same pain he was inflicting upon Hiroshi. He did the burn quickly, not wanting Hiroshi to suffer too much, but the lingering effects were still present, and it made Hiroshi squirm uncomfortably, taking deep breaths as he tried to soothe the pain. Ryouta held him back down, trying to make him not struggle too much.

Ryouta saw the side of where his arm was now missing. Right now, there was a dark red burn on it, and it looked ugly. Konoha's medical techniques were top notch, and fixing back limbs was somewhat possible, if the injury was taken care off by a proper medic-nin, but now, with his crude techniques, Ryouta had probably just cost Hiroshi the chance to fix back his arm.

" Damn it! This...this wasn't...supposed to happen," Ryouta exclaimed, slamming his fists on the nearby tree, placing so much strength into his hit he cracked the trunk slightly. Something warm dripped down his face, and it took him a while to realise that it was his tears. " If I...had not been so careless..."

It was all his fault. He did not make sure that Kazuki had been taken care of, and it was Hiroshi who had saved him in the nick of time, costing him his arm in return.

" R...Ryouta...?" Hiroshi gasped.

Ryouta turned around back to Hiroshi, who was trying to get his attention by holding on to his arm. His grip was weak, but still determined. He continued to take deep breaths, but from the tone of his breathing, Ryouta could feel that he was still in pain.

" My pack, on the...lower...*cough*...right side...take out...take out...blue..." Hiroshi gasped, too weak and tired to even open his eyes.

Ryouta realised the treatment was not complete, and Hiroshi still had other instructions to give him. Ryouta cursed his stupidity, knowing that Hiroshi wasn't done giving him instructions. " I'm so sorry, I'll get on it right away," Ryouta said, fumbling through the pack Hiroshi had instructed him to search. Rummaging through it, he came upon a blue scroll. Wondering what medical equipment it had stored inside, Ryouta placed it on the ground nearby and opened it.

Hiroshi lifted his hand and rubbed off some blood off his body, before lifting his hand. " ...Third seal...where is it?" Hiroshi asked.

Ryouta understood what Hiroshi meant, being the third item he had sealed into the scroll. He guided Hiroshi's hand towards the third seal on the scroll, and placed his hand there. Hiroshi charged whatever chakra he could send through his hand into the scroll. Ryouta expected whatever to come out was some medicine, pills, or some medical item to say the least.

The last thing he had expected for Hiroshi to procure for him was an intricately made windmill shuriken, the blade honed to have an edge like no other. No doubt custom made by Hiroshi himself.

" What in the world is this?" Ryouta exclaimed, surprised by the turn of events.

" ...Weapon...dummy..." Hiroshi replied. In spite of the situation, he was apparently grinning.

" I know darn well what it is. I want to know why!" Ryouta exclaimed. " I have no time for a fight. I need to..."

With surprising strength, Hiroshi suddenly grabbed Ryouta by the collar, before dragging him down to his level. Ryouta tried to struggle, but he heard Hiroshi whisper something in his ear. The more Ryouta listened, the more his eyes widened in shock, until when Hiroshi was done with him and released his grip on him, Ryouta still stared in utter surprise at his injured comrade.

" ...You..." Ryouta mused.

" ...Go...get...*cough* that...son of a...bitch..." Hiroshi muttered quietly, before breaking into a grin.

Ryouta looked at Hiroshi, before glancing at the windmill shuriken, looking as if it was calling out to him to use it. Very slowly, he got up, before picking up the weapon and holding it in his hands.

" Hiroshi..." he muttered.

Hiroshi started to breath painfully, and Ryouta bent down next to him as his chest started to heave up and down. He calmed down after a while, but to Ryouta's horror, Hiroshi's breathing started to lessen considerably. He pressed his hand on his chest, only to feel his heart beat very faintly. Despite that, there was a calm look on Hiroshi's face, as if he was taking a nap.

" Hiroshi..." he muttered, a tear dropping from his eye, which he furiously rubbed away. " No, he's not dead yet. He has entrusted me with a method, and I shall not make his sacrifice be in vain." He stood up, looking down at the body of his friend.

" Heh, looks like I'm always depending on you during critical situations. Sit tight, Hiroshi, I'll deal with this," Ryouta replied, before turning around and walking off.

-

Kazuki slammed into the mud clone, sending it flying. It smashed into a tree, before splattering its contents all over the place. Kazuki made an irritated noise, before turning around, raising one of his eyebrows in surprise. Ryouta stood behind him, glaring down angrily at him while holding what looked like a windmill shuriken in his hand. There was a dark determined look in his eyes that he had not seen before, something that told him Ryouta would be way more dangerous than he was previously.

" Oh, you're back? I thought you'd take your friend and turn tail by now," Kazuki replied.

" Naturally, I would, but Hiroshi bade me to come back," Ryouta said darkly. " Our task is to delay your group here, and if we escape, no doubt, you will be off to engage our friends. Seeing how dangerous you are, Hiroshi figured it is best if we stop you here, than risk you taking out the rest of our comrades. This is where I shall make my stand."

" Hmph, I'll admit that you were good, especially with the teamwork you displayed not too long ago, it was as if you synchronised your brains to function together somehow, but that's about as far as you can go," Kazuki replied. " You think you are confident you can take my head, boy?"

" There, lies your mistake," Ryouta replied.

" My mistake?"

" I'm not here to take your head. I cannot take your head, and I will not take your head. And do you know why? It's because your head, is already mine," Ryouta answered. He twirled the windmill shuriken in his hands, before halting it as he pointed the weapon threateningly at Kazuki. " A gift, from Hiroshi. You took his arm, thus, I shall have your head as a compensation, which will be rightfully mine."

" Cocky brat, I'll teach you," Kazuki replied.

In an instant, Kazuki flung out his arms, but Ryouta knew very well what he was doing. He did a back flip, jumping off the branch before it shattered all of a sudden into pieces. Kazuki threw out his arms, flinging them in all directions. The nearby trees and branches all got broken down, as if they were cut by invisible knives.

Ryouta understood his trick. Kazuki's trump card was using garrotte wires. Very thin metal wires that when charged with chakra, could easily cut through steel. Kazuki had several, almost invisible wires attached to his hands. Hiroshi, who had suffered the brunt of his technique, knew at least that much.

As soon as Ryouta hit the ground, he immediately dashed towards the side, just as the ground where he stood upon seconds ago broke apart, cut by some invisible blade of sorts. He lowered his head by several centimetres, feeling something fly past over, nicking some strands of his hair, before jumping up to avoid one of the garrotte wires passing under his feet. Kazuki stopped his attacks, watching Ryouta carefully. So far, he had been able to avoid all his attacks effortlessly, not even a nick on his body. Ryouta merely glared back at him angrily, his eyes narrowed, frowning so hard it looked as if his eyebrows had connected with one another.

" You...seem apt in reading my attacks," Kazuki commented.

Ryouta didn't reply, but merely braced himself for the next attack. Kazuki was a little concerned now. Not only Ryouta had somehow managed to dodge his attacks effortlessly, but there was this sheer intensity coming from him, as if Ryouta was putting pressure on him, a jounin, his ki that was now being emitted having a lot of potency. Ryouta was being reckless, more liked an armed bomb ready to detonate any given second now.

Kazuki realised he might be reading his moves according to his hand movements. Ryouta had now stopped moving altogether, as if waiting for Kazuki to draw his hand first. After what felt like an antagonising minute, Ryouta took a step forward, before taking a second.

_Hmph, he intends to close the distance carefully before playing his ace. After all, he has yet to attack...very well, come closer, and when you are close enough, I shall snare you like a bug trapped in a spider's net..._Kazuki thought, before flicking his finger.

The fine string shot forward, tearing through the earth as it shot towards Ryouta. Ryouta merely stepped aside, before shooting forward, the string missing him by centimetres. Kazuki flung his hands, the garrotte wires flying in all directions. Ryouta dodged all the attacks like a pro, as if he knew where the attacks were coming from.

" You've got to be kidding me..." Kazuki snarled.

Ryouta had not even bothered throwing one attack, merely dodging everything Kazuki was throwing at him, moving closer and closer with each passing second. It was obvious Ryouta's goal was to get close enough to Kazuki. Kazuki jumped backwards, trying to put some distance between him and Ryouta, but Ryouta continued to advance with a sheer tenacity that bordered on insanity, his eyes merely focused on Kazuki, so focused, it was as if he were to looked somewhere else for a split second, his target would be gone.

Ryouta knew he had one goal to reach, as he gripped the windmill shuriken even harder. Hiroshi had sacrificed himself and decided to bet everything on Ryouta's capabilities in this fight, and Ryouta was not about to let his faith in him to be wasted. Ryouta continued to advance forward, his steps never wavering.

Kazuki gritted his teeth, feeling frustrated that his trump card was being outwitted by some tired chuunin, most likely close to having no more chakra. Ryouta's advance was nothing more than spectacular. Despite all the fatigue and pain, he continued to push himself forward, edging closer with each second to Kazuki.

" Don't push you luck, boy!" Kazuki screamed.

Ryouta shifted his weight slightly to the left, moving his body out of harm's way just as a garrotte wire came flying towards his face. Just as that wire passed him, he shot forward, channelling whatever chakra he had left to his feet, before bursting forward in a mad surge of speed.

Ryouta's hand moved in a blur of speed, before flying up towards Kazuki's face. He caught the hand, the blade of the windmill shuriken just almost hitting his face. Ryouta reached out with his other hand to strike, but to only allow Kazuki to rip him to shreds with his garrotte wires at this distance. The wires shot all over Ryouta's body, and it broke into 17 pieces.

To only burst in a cloud of smoke.

The rustle of leaves made Kazuki turn around, only to see two figures leap out from the trees behind him, both armed with a windmill shuriken each. As soon as he spotted them, Ryouta's clones flung out the windmill shurikens, and they started to fly towards him.

" This guy is unbelievable...he's almost running on empty, how the hell does he maintain shadow clones?!" Kazuki exclaimed.

Just before the windmill shurikens hit, Kazuki raised his hands, and the wires attached to his arms shot forward. The windmill shurikens were ripped to shreds despite being made of metal, falling to the floor harmlessly. The wires continued to fly forward, before hitting the two clones, bursting once more into smoke.

_You have got to be shitting me, how many clones can this guy make?!_ Kazuki thought to himself.

Once again, the lone figure of Ryouta leaped out from behind him, and this time with both hands occupied and facing the opposite direction, Ryouta had a clear shot at Kazuki from his back. Ryouta knew he had one shot to make, and he wasn't about to miss it. He pulled his arm back, taking careful aim as he went sailing through the air as he leaped out from his hiding place, before flinging his windmill shuriken towards Kazuki.

" You're dead meat this time, boy!" Kazuki exclaimed, spinning around, before raising one of his hands and fired multiple garrotte wires towards his windmill shuriken, only to have them snapped apart as if they were made of cotton. Kazuki could only stare in surprise, seeing his weapon being destroyed, and the windmill shuriken flew past him, not before lobbing off his right arm.

The attack came so fast, he couldn't even feel it. It felt so weird to see his arm fall off, but to still not being able to register the pain as of yet. None of his blood was spilt, and after careful observation, he could see why. The wound on his body and the severed arm was sealed off by burning, closing the flesh in an instant to prevent bleeding. There was without a doubt that the windmill shuriken was charged with the fire element.

" Pretty, but I will still need your head for compensation," Ryouta replied, landing right in front of Kazuki.

" You...!"

The windmill shuriken flew back in an arc like a boomerang, and Ryouta caught it deftly in his hands, clenching it tightly, just before flinging the weapon towards Kazuki's head.

-

Ryouta staggered back to where he had previously left Hiroshi. He was still there, lying peacefully on the ground, breathing ever so slightly. He was still alive, although barely. He would need medical attention immediately, or he would not make it. Still, he had done what he could do, and Ryouta figured this was the final extent of his abilities. He just prayed that it was enough.

He stepped forward, before falling to his knees next to Hiroshi, his side bleeding profoundly. During the last attack, just as he took Kazuki's head for himself, Kazuki managed to attack him using his other hand. Unable to stop the garrotte wire from hitting him, it ripped a gash on the side of his gut, and now he was bleeding a lot. Ryouta felt a little dizzy, but he didn't mind it in the least.

" I did it...Hiroshi..." he muttered, despite knowing Hiroshi could not hear him. " I got him...I got him good..."

Ryouta started to feel very light headed. The loss of blood was getting to him, but he tried to stay conscious, despite drowsiness taking over his body. He had to stay awake.

He dumped the windmill shuriken Hiroshi gave him to the side, now useless as he had no need for it. Using garrotte wires was one thing, but the thing that gave Kazuki's technique and edge was that he was using wind manipulation on his wires. With that, he was able to slice through everything, except one thing, Ryouta's fire. When Hiroshi got his arm cut off, he realised that Kazuki was using wind manipulation, and he told Ryouta about it. With it, using fire manipulation to counter his abilities was as simple as taking candy from a baby.

The windmill shuriken was crafted out of materials that could absorb chakra. Ryouta was surprised that Hiroshi somehow managed to craft one as a windmill shuriken for the occasion.

He heard something approach, but somehow, he knew that whatever was coming was not the enemy. How he knew that, he could never explain, but he just knew. Seconds later, some figures landed next to him. There was a rush of movement, but he could barely feel anything. Someone walked past him, and a second later, he saw Makoto next to him, shaking him slightly, before asking him whether he was alright or not. Ryouta couldn't be bothered. He had other things to consider right now. One of them was Suzumi.

She knelt down in shock as she saw Hiroshi's broken body, unconscious, lying peacefully on the ground. Ryouta wanted to say something, but words could not escape his mouth. He wasn't sure if the lack of blood was sapping his strength to speak, or perhaps he was just too timid to accept responsibility. Suzumi slowly picked up Hiroshi's body, before holding his body tightly, hugging him. The sound of his heart still beating calmed her slightly, but it didn't stop the tears falling down her cheeks.

" Suzumi...I'm...sorry...." Ryouta managed to stammer.

She looked at him, but she didn't look like she was accusing him of anything, but more of her appreciating him. " No...thank you, Ryouta..." she whispered, her voice choked with emotion as she continued to cradle Hiroshi's body.

That was all Ryouta needed. He fell backwards, hitting the floor as he lost consciousness.

_Writer's note: Finally, the end of the mission..._


	32. Chapter 31: The Broken Pieces

**Chapter 31: The Broken Pieces**

Makoto walked through the infirmary, which was rather quiet, with only a couple of people in the waiting area. A few nurses walked around the place, guiding people around or attending other chores, none bothering to pay him any attention. He made his way along the corridors, passing several rooms as he headed towards his destination.

Makoto had no need to go too far. At the end of the corridor, he could see Ryouta leaning against one of the doors. Ryouta opened his eyes and looked at Makoto as he approached, before giving him a wave.

" Are you sure you should be up and walking?" Makoto asked.

" I'm fine, honestly. I'm pretty much healed up now," Ryouta answered.

" I know, but your strength has not yet returned, so don't push yourself. Besides, we've got time to take it easy now, so no point in straining your body for no absolute reason. Hiroshi would be pissed, you know," Makoto replied, before opening the door of the ward in which Ryouta had been waiting next to, and both of them entered at the same time.

" Pricks, you finally made it," Sora's voice was the first thing that greeted them when they entered the room. " And for God sake, bring some flowers at the very least. I know I don't strike you as the girly type, but it's complementary for me to receive flowers when I'm recouperating from my injuries!"

" Liar, who was the crazy dipshit who threw a vase full of flowers at my face when I visited her the last time?" Hibiki scowled.

" Screw roses, I say," Sora replied, waving her hands.

" Hey, I know that you are always up and running, despite having injuries which are sufficient enough to kill you, but not everyone shares you vigour and constitution," Makoto replied, lowering his voice down to a whisper, before pointing to a bed nearby.

Not too far away lay Hiroshi, still unconscious from his severe injuries. It had been about a week since their ordeal, but Hiroshi has yet to regain consciousness. His missing arm was a reminder of their ordeal during those days when they did their best to escort Lady Kaguya towards the border. Ryouta still could not get over the fact that Hiroshi had somehow lost his arm. The Grass medic-nins were not optimistic about fixing his arm back, despite Suzumi's best attempt to preserve his arm. She sat by his bed, always by his side throughout the week, holding his hand all the while.

" Look, Suzumi, I know you want to stay by his side, but you'll need to go out once in a while, and eat something at least. No point worrying over this. Hiroshi will make a recovery, I'm sure of it," Ryouta replied.

Suzumi looked at him with a smile on a sad face, nodding her head slightly, before returning her attention to Hiroshi once more. Ryouta wasn't sure what to make of it. If Hiroshi's arm could not be fixed, his career as a shinobi would be effectively over, because he will not be able to fight properly with just one arm. He could, but he would require a lot of training until he could be effective again, and that, at best, would take at least 5 years, just before he can enter the field again. Ryouta somehow prayed that with the miraculous advancements in medical jutsus in their village would somehow managed to fix this problem. Fixing back an arm is possible, as long as the arm has been well preserved, usually kept in a scroll to avoid decomposition of the cells, but since Ryouta treated his wound by burning it, it complicates matters a little bit.

" Here, eat something at least," Makoto said, passing Suzumi a small packet. She opened it, only to find a few sandwiches inside. She took a bite and chewed on it slowly, before smiling at him and said " It tastes good…"

" Well, you obviously know he didn't make that," Hibiki scoffed, and the rest of them burst out in laughter, although they did try to keep their tone down, mindful of the noise they were making, save perhaps Sora.

Konoha somehow managed to send in reinforcements, and they were immediately taken to a nearby hospital for emergency treatment. Since some of their injuries were severe, they were shifted to a nearby hospital in the Grass nation to receive treatment, since the medical facilities and medics were better there, thus, they have been recouperating inside the Grass nation for some time. They have been granted some R&R for their efforts, and were allowed to stay in the Grass nation for a while, treating it as if it were some holiday, with permission that was most gratefully granted by the Grass Lords.

As promised, Lady Kaguya immediately held a talk with her father the moment she had her chance, and after a few days, the problem was solved. Recently, her father had been hosting talks with various Konoha lords in order to strengthen their ties together, upon his daughter's suggestion. The conflict was over, and he would still support the Leaf's. The conflict at the northern border was solved, and they had somehow miraculously avoided a civil war within their own country.

Most of the shinobis from the unknown organization left as soon as reinforcement arrived, and they disappeared without a trace after that. Most of the intelligent division in Konoha was investigating the subject, but no word has come as of yet. They had managed to cover their tracks in every way, making it difficult for the investigative team to make head or tail out of it.

There was a soft knock on the door, and all of them turned to see who had arrived.

" Yo, I was informed you all were here. Glad to see that you are in one piece," Sousuke spoke, smiling slightly at the door, with Sakita and Yuuko standing behind him.

" Sousuke, you made it!" Ryouta exclaimed happily, before going up to Sousuke and giving him a hug, patting each other on their backs. " I had yet to hear word from you. I'm glad you all made it back in one piece."

" Well, good to see you all are alright as well. Honestly, I was worried. We did run into a few of them, but I guess a large bulk of their forces went after you when they caught wind of you all escorting Lady Kaguya," Sousuke replied, while Yuuko and Sakita went up to Sora's cot and spoke with her, while Sora replied energetically with her arms waving all over the place. He looked grim a while later, before saying " I heard what happened to Hiroshi. Will they be able to fix it?"

Ryouta looked aside guiltily. " …Maybe, but they are not too optimistic. I…I had to…cauterize his arm to stop him from bleeding to death…" Ryouta replied.

Sousuke merely nodded, understanding what it all meant. " Sorry to hear that, but you had to do what you had to do. Look on the bright side, least he's still alive. That has to count for something," Sousuke replied, trying to console Ryouta.

" …It was my fault he ended up like this…" Ryouta replied.

" Hey, you did your best, and if Hiroshi was up right now, he'd say the same thing. He wouldn't blame you one bit, you understand. Don't fret about it too much. Knowing Hiroshi, he'll be laughing about it when he wakes up," Sousuke answered. Ryouta looked up at him, and for the first time in a week, smiled back.

They were once more interrupted with another knock on the door.

" Oh, I…I didn't know you had so many visitors," Lady Kaguya replied, looking around awkwardly, obviously not expecting to see anyone else in the room besides the Leaf and Sand nins she was expecting. Kira stood behind her impassively, his hands still placed on his daggers, as if the people in the room posed a threat to Lady Kaguya somehow. " Perhaps…I should come back another time?"

" Oh no, come on in. It's much more fun this way. I was bored stiff for such a long time. Your presence is most welcomed here," Sora exclaimed, waving her in.

" It's good to see you in good spirits," Ryouta replied.

" Well…I guess…this has ended happily after all…" Lady Kaguya replied, beaming.

By some miraculous chance of fate, the recovery team somehow managed to find Tayu, close to death but still alive, and brought her back for emergency treatment. They somehow managed to save her life, and despite still staying in a coma until now, the doctors say that she should somehow make a full recovery in hopefully a month. She might have to go through some rehabilitation due to the injuries and strain she suffered during the fight, but she will make it. Ryouta couldn't forget the time when Lady Kaguya broke down in tears of joy when she heard they managed to save Tayu somehow. She was sleeping in the room the floor above, and they visited her once in a while. They had somehow managed to get through the mission alive, all of them.

Ryouta was slightly puzzled as to how Tayu managed to survive the ordeal. He was under the impression, and so was everyone else, that Tayu committed suicide by detonating Hiroshi's explosive tag, which was one of the more powerful ones he carried, in order to slow down the enemy advance ever so slightly. The recovery team noted that the tag had exploded some distance from where she was found. The strangest thing was that she had been moved from her original position. Ryouta was pretty confident that Tayu didn't have any strength left in her to move that distance.

This meant someone moved her, and set off the explosive tag independently. The question was who did it. His thoughts fell on a certain someone, but he shook his head. _Doesn't make a lick of sense…_he thought to himself.

" I believe so," Hibiki replied, grinning as well.

" Who…are these Leaf-nins?" Lady Kaguya asked curiously.

" If certain…misfortunes didn't arrive, they would be your escorts during our ordeal as well. Still, we owe a lot of credit to our success to them for diverting the enemies' attention during our initial march to the Grass nation," Ryouta replied.

" …Thank you…" Lady Kaguya replied, bowing down gratefully to them.

" Oh, Lady Kaguya, please raise your head. We didn't do much to deserve anything to warrant this treatment, honest…" Sakita replied.

" I just don't know…perhaps if I could do something else…"

" Get the doctor!" Suzumi exclaimed loudly. " Hiroshi's waking up!"

There was a loud clamorous eruption of noise in the ward as everyone suddenly rushed up to Hiroshi's bed, crowding around him. Even Sora, how had been attached to the medical equipment nearby, pulled out the tubes and wires stuck to her body and hobbled up to Hiroshi's cot, with Hibiki's help, and looked at him. Hiroshi was moving slightly, his eyebrows frowning as if he was in pain, before slowly but surely, opening his eyelids.

In a daze, he tried to look around, to see familiar faces around him, Hibiki and Sora grinning like lunatics to his left, Ryouta and Makoto beaming at him on his right. Lady Kaguya stood by his cot, smiling happily and gratefully, while Kira merely stood behind her, his expression the same as per usual. Sousuke, Sakita and Yuuko were crowed around his bed, all talking excitedly, with Yuuko waving energetically at him. Finally, he saw Suzumi, who was crying profoundly, tears running down her cheeks, just too happy that Hiroshi had finally regained consciousness.

" Welcome back, Hiroshi," Suzumi sobbed, trying to wipe the tears from her face. She figured she looked silly, crying the first thing when he woke up, but she couldn't help herself.

Hiroshi wanted to say something back, but somehow, something in his brain was holding him back. It took him a while to figure out what it was, since after woken up, his brain was functioning much slower than it normally would, as if he had just gotten up from a very deep sleep. It took him a while to realize that there was a familiar yet strange presence within their group.

" Shikamaru-sensei?...When…did you arrive?" Hiroshi asked weakly.

" Gah!" both Hibiki and Sora shouted in unison when they saw Shikamaru right behind them, having arrived unnoticed. He merely smiled back at his student, glad that he was awake.

" Just. How are you feeling?" Shikamaru replied.

" …Heavenly…" Hiroshi whispered.

" God damn it, old man! Stop sneaking around like some damn shadow. I swear to God, you are about as sneaky as a ninja!" Sora shouted, pointing a finger accusingly at Shikamaru.

He looked at her curiously, before replying " I'll…take that as a compliment."

-

" I see…" Shikamaru replied, after listening to Ryouta explain their mission in detail. Both Ryouta and Makoto were with him, both of them with their arms crossed as they looked grimly at him. Shikamaru pondered for a while, thinking things through. " Okay, this is very much classified information, but I think I can let you guys know this. Not to mention you are somehow involved in this as well."

" I did some investigations and I've come up with some conclusions. Do you know the time when you three went to the Sand village for some training with Makoto and his team? I'm sure you all remembered the time when you all were chased by that weird group that popped up of nowhere, being lead by Maya, right? Well, I have the gut feeling that these two incidents are related somehow," Shikamaru answered.

" …Then what is the goal of this organization anyway? First, they tried kidnapping genins years ago, now they tried to assassinate Lady Kaguya in the hopes of causing a civil war," Makoto mused.

" Chaos, pure and simple. Agents of chaos, I would say. Not only that, their organization has been carrying out assassinations, abductions, random acts of chaos and destruction. None seemed to link back to the reason or motive as to why they do this, so I'm somehow suspecting it's money involved," Shikamaru answered gravely.

" How'd that come into the equation?" Hibiki asked.

" Hmm, never thought you were one to participate in these 'discussions'," Shikamaru replied sarcastically.

" Hey, pipe down, old man, you looking down on me or what? I can take responsibility as well, you know," Hibiki snapped back.

" …Since when did you all start to call me old man…well, never mind," Shikamaru replied. " Where was I? Right, motive. As I said, money. These may be seemingly random acts of violence, but perhaps money has changed hands. Like take for example assassinations. They only happen if the said target gave someone a reason for vengeance, or the said target is a threat, or the said target has a bounty on his or her head, or money can be generated by the target's death. Some of these investigations I studied found out that for the majority, a large part of this groups assassination targets do not meet the requirements for the first two reasons."

" So you are saying someone is hiding behind the scenes, making money out of this mess?" Ryouta asked incredulously.

" I believe so," Shikamaru replied.

" Wait, this is a little absurd. Considering the amount of chaos they are spreading, neither of our intelligence division actually know much of the organization besides the fact that they do exist. We don't even have their name. How the hell did this organization get to organize so many shinobis without even getting traced?" Makoto demanded.

" That's the brilliance of the organization, isn't it? Look, we are about as stumped as you are. Heck, we have no solid proof they come from an organization. We only think they belong to an organization because they seem to act like one," Shikamaru replied. " Here's the ingenious part: we can't seem to trace back who actually orders them around. We managed to scrounge up a few of them, only to find out they receive their payment and their job description from an unknown sender. If they flee with the money, they will be hunted down and killed brutally, so they either accept or leave the money alone. Since most of them are missing-nins, most of them will accept this deal. It's not much anyway: kill one or two people, destroy things. Heck, mostly simple stuff even a normal genin could do, given the capabilities."

" Thus, the higher ups are always hidden. They source for missing-nins, pay them and give the orders, and the thing is that they never make any contact. It's like an upper level organization controlling a lower one without knowing it actually exists. Some of these shinobi don't even know who hired them, some even convinced that the major villagers had sent them to do the village's dirty work. Some of our captives swore Konoha hired them to do their assigned tasks, and I assure you, we did no such thing," Shikamaru replied.

" You have so much faith in your higher ups?" Hibiki asked.

" Yeah, about as much faith as I have of taking orders from a Stone-nin," Shikamaru replied, making them all raise their eyebrows. " Look, I'm a bit of a skeptic, so although I do trust the higher ups, I do investigate them anyway. Their clean not because I trust them, it's because I've checked on them. I do trust the old lady though, but some of the other guys in the administration can be shifty sometimes."

" These guys seemed skilled in covering their tracks," Ryouta mused.

" Yeah, almost as good as a major shinobi village," Shikamaru replied.

Ryouta's eyes recoiled in shock. " Wait, sensei, you aren't suggesting…"

" Look, Ryouta, to be frank, I think I might agree with the intelligence division on this theory. Consider the facts, this organization has enough power to control a small army, but an army nevertheless. Nobody can exert that kind of control and stay hidden, especially not at this kind of scale. They are not likely hidden as one of the smaller hidden villages, because the smaller countries don't have that kind of power. The only way they can stay hidden like this despite their activities and numbers is if they are being aided by one of the major countries. That…is by far, the most likely scenario."

" Let me get this straight: perhaps one of our opposing countries want to strike hostilities, but can't, so they get this bogus organization to do this jackshit so they can cause chaos to other countries, for their sake. And since they are so influential, they can easily hide their tracks. Is that what you are saying?" Hibiki asked.

" Exactly," Shikamaru replied.

" A suggestion?"

" Fire away, Makoto, I'm all ears," Shikamaru answered.

" Considering the fact, if we are under the assumption, that one of the major villages is hiding this organization, wouldn't it be easy to investigate to see which country has none of this incidents happening? That would pin-point which major country is playing their part in this play," Makoto suggested.

" Nice thinking, but it's a bit too shallow. Here's a nice tidbit," Shikamaru replied, acting now with some dramatic flair. " Incidents coming from this organization is happening all over the world, not just in Konoha, or the Sand, but all countries, even the smaller ones. How'd we pin-point that?"

The three boys looked at each other uneasily.

" Best part is, according to amount of incidents and the level of activity, Konoha records the least amount of involvement with this organization. On the whole, it puts 'us' as most suspicious in hiding this shadowy organization. The reason why we don't hear much from the other countries is because they hide it, so there seems to be less of them occurring. We…sorta 'expose' them because we have too few to talk about, least other countries talk about it," Shikamaru explained.

" Then this makes the theory on one of the major countries hiding this organization moot," Hibiki replied.

" How so?" Shikamaru asked.

" I mean, which country causes civils wars to their own country on purpose, destroying things and killing people?" Hibiki asked.

" Any country employing shinobis," Shikamaru answered.

" Huh?"

" He's right, Hibiki. Our country and theirs have assassinated our lords, destroyed things and done inhuman activities, all in the name of preserving our way of life, peace, and for justice. We are after all, tools of our country. The theory stills stands…no, it's even more likely now that we think of it," Makoto answered. " For them, this organization is a front for them to clean up, in their sense, the dirty bits of their country, while they wreck havoc in other countries."

" If so, this has got to be one of the boldest plans any of the major countries have come up with," Ryouta replied.

" I know. Still, I'm looking into it, and hopefully, I'll get to the bottom of this sooner or later. Still, there is another thing I need to know. I don't need Hiroshi to know just yet, and it will cause Suzumi more worry if I ask her. Sora's too noisy to ask for her own sake," Shikamaru replied.

He stole a glance at them. Hiroshi was happily talking with Sousuke and his team, along with Suzumi and Sora by her side, commenting on things and laughing at the same time. Ryouta noticed he shot a worried glance at Hiroshi.

" …What's wrong?" Ryouta asked, feeling something bad about to happen. He started to fear that Shikamaru might have gotten back the medical record, stating that they could not replace Hiroshi's arm. He almost jumped when Shikamaru suddenly retrieved a book, although he calmed down later when he noticed it was the ever familiar bingo book.

" Recognise this?" Shikamaru asked.

" It's …a bingo book, right? Wait, that's not the one you use, nor do we. Where did you get that one?" Hibiki asked.

Bingo books differed by each nation, as the wanted shinobi list was different. Konoha might treat a missing-nin or some foreign shinobi as a threat to national security, but this does not apply to other countries. Thus, the contents of different bingo books will differ from each country.

" It's the black market one," Shikamaru replied.

The black market bingo book was a general book. It had the names listed of all the shinobi's wanted by the general countries. It's not official, since the bounties placed on their heads here are sent out not by the shinobi villages, but other people and organizations who want these shinobis dead or alive. Thus, the term black market, as in illegal bounties coming from people who aren't from the major countries or anywhere where they deploy shinobis.

Shikamaru opened the book, and turned to a specific page, before showing it to Makoto, Hibiki and Ryouta. Hibiki and Ryouta's jaw dropped as far as they could go, and since Makoto couldn't see, he wondered why his friends were so shocked to see.

" Erm, what is it?" Makoto asked.

" …Suzuki Hiroshi, he's got a fucking bounty on his head," Hibiki whispered.

" What?" Makoto exclaimed, before touching the book, running his chakra through it to 'read' it. " …You've got to be shitting me."

Ryouta was not sure what to make of it. The page had Hiroshi's face on it, and some details about him. Most importantly, the price offered for his head was 20 million ryou. Ryouta could not believe what he was seeing.

" …Wait, he's 'needed'?" Hibiki mused.

Ryouta saw the description on the page, and he understood what it meant. Most shinobis in the bingo book were wanted dead. There was an exception though. 'Needed' shinobis in the bingo book meant that they were wanted alive. And the only reason why they were ever wanted alive was if they held important information, or had an incredibly potent and useful skill to steal from.

" I got his three days ago. I was a bit shocked to see this, so I thought I'd rather consult you guys. Has Hiroshi done anything…spectacular, or is privy to any secret information we need to be aware of?" Shikamaru asked seriously.

Ryouta tried to calm down and think. " …As for information, he knows about as much as we do, and on that mission, I don't think we ever came across any valuable information…well, we separated once, and he went with Kira to rescue Sora, but other than that, he couldn't have stumbled on anything spectacular."

" Skills? His puppetry skills are one of a kind in our village. Has he come up with anything…remarkable?" Shikamaru asked.

" …I can't think of anything spectacular," Hibiki mused. " I mean, there was that one time when he got us out of a fix using his puppet swapping technique."

" …He did upgrade his Azure Forest Technique," Ryouta replied.

" Explain," Shikamaru replied.

" Do you remember that technique he used when fighting Makoto during the Chuunin exams, in the finals?" Ryouta asked.

" …Yes, the one where he littered kunais all over the place, right?" Shikamaru responded.

" He did use an upgraded version of his technique, where he used a whole slew of various weapons, and he would fling them in all directions, really lethal. Only thing is, I doubt this is why he has a bounty, if they are after his skills. It takes a lot of practice, and only if you are a puppeteer, could you pull this off," Ryouta replied. " Sorry, let me rephrase that, if you are a puppeteer, it helps."

" Well, we'll figure that out later. Right now, before anything, you guys will need some rest. I'll send an escort up later so we can pick Hiroshi up so we can go home when he's feeling much better," Shikamaru said.

" What? I think we can safely escort Hiroshi back by ourselves when he's fit," Hibiki argued.

" Kid, you don't get it, do you? Maybe it's nice to not have a bounty on your head. Here's a general rule on bounties: head hunters usually come after you according to your price, if it's high enough, they will come for you, if it's too low, they usually won't bother unless you leave yourself vulnerable," Shikamaru replied in a bored voice. " Here's a general rundown. Assume they will come for you if you have 500 thousand or more as a genin, 5 million or more if you are a chuunin, and 50 million or more if you are a jounin. Trust me, 20 million is too much for Hiroshi, and I can bet even dangerous jounins will start flocking to his side to get some piece of the pie."

" …Hmm…" Ryouta mused.

" What, thought of something?" Shikamaru asked.

" Sort of. You used the words 'it must be nice'. From the sound of it, you seemed to imply you have a bounty on your head as well, sensei," Ryouta said. " …I'm just wondering how much is it?"

Shikamaru looked curiously at him, before smirking slightly. " Officially, I'm not a threat to any countries, but I will be if we go to war," Shikamaru replied, before flipping a few ages of the bingo book he had just showed them, before ending up on a specific page, showing it to them. They looked at the page he had indicated, showing a picture of him, plus the bounty five times larger than Hiroshi's. " …It's a pain to be too smart sometimes…"

_Writer's note: Kinda pulled a Deux ex machina there with Tayu, but I had no intention of killing her of...yet. Her survival plays a role in one of my plots in the future, and I wanted to keep her around as well for...specific reasons. _

_I go by the idea that wanted shinobis are different for each village, and thus, there is a small number of different bingo books. I sort of played with the idea of whether or not to give Hiroshi a bountry, and I did, for the sake of the plot.  
_


	33. Chapter 32: Recovery

**Chapter 32: Recovery**

Ryouta jumped up in shock, almost falling out of the chair he was sitting upon when the first thing he heard was a loud scream. He looked around frantically, trying to get his bearings, wondering if danger had descended upon the hospital somehow. It took him a while to realise that it was Suzumi who had screamed.

" Suzumi, are you alright? Are you hurt? What happened?" Ryouta asked.

However, her sudden exclamation didn't need any explaining. As soon as he rushed up to her, he spotted Hiroshi was missing from his bed. While this didn't cause any alarm for Ryouta, since he figured Hiroshi had probably got up to get something to eat, he felt Suzumi thought something bad had happened to him and the doctors had carted him off to the emergency room.

" Oh...Suzumi, relax, he's probably gone to get a sandwich, nothing to be alarmed about," Ryouta replied, trying to calm her down.

" Hey, what's the matter? I thought I heard someone scream," the familiar voice of Hiroshi's floated through the room from the entrance. He was leaning on the door frame, a sandwich in hand, munching happily while he looked into the room curiously, wondering what was all the fuss about. Suzumi turned a shade of red in embarrassment.

" You are up early," Ryouta replied.

" Hey, missing an arm isn't enough to keep me down," Hiroshi replied laughing loudly.

Ryouta felt a twinge of pain in his heat whenever the word arm, or hand, or anything that was related to Hiroshi's now missing limb. It had been two weeks now, and he had not been able to get over it. Hiroshi had told him enough times that it wasn't his fault, and although he was grateful for the gesture, he still couldn't really accept it.

He jerked forward when he felt someone clap him on his back hard. Hiroshi stood behind him, grinning somehow. " What? Feeling sorry for me again? I told you to forget it, alright? You are going to be a pain in the ass if you keep bringing this up," Hiroshi said, patting his friend on his back. " Besides, I told you already, we are going to fix this arm when we get back, so no worries. I'll be as good as new."

" ...You keep saying that," Suzumi replied.

" But of course, I only tell the truth," Hiroshi replied proudly.

Hiroshi was a little upset he somehow lost his limb, but after a few days later, he didn't seem to mind, and in fact, had this conviction that after going back to their village, his arm will be fixed. Although Suzumi did preserve his arm in the chance that they might be able to fix it back, there was a very low probability to do so, yet Hiroshi was somewhat confident that he would be able to make a full recovery with both arms intact. Ryouta wasn't sure where he got his conviction from, but it was good to see him not bothered about it.

" Are you hungry?" Hiroshi asked.

" No, but now that you mentioned it, I guess I am," Suzumi said.

" Urm...well, how about breakfast together? Let's go now while the other idiots are still sleeping," Hiroshi suggested.

Suzumi looked at him curiously, before understanding what he meant, and going red in the face once more. Hiroshi's words were suggesting something intimate, and she figured he meant it. It was an awkward moment, Hiroshi still in his hospital robes with an arm missing, but perhaps Hiroshi was stubborn. He had been robbed of his chance to spend some quality time with Suzumi, and he had been putting it off now for three years. He wasn't going to let it go this easily now, injuries or not.

" ...Sounds like fun," she replied, before turning to Ryouta. " Don't tell the rest, okay?"

Ryouta merely placed his finger on his lips, signifying he understood what she meant. Suzumi got up and grabbed Hiroshi's hand, his only hand now, and he took her out of the room.

-

"Ah, this feels great. Haven't been out in a while," Hiroshi replied, walking around in the small Grass town. He took in a deep breath of the fresh countryside air, spinning around like a little kid. Suzumi merely giggled at the sight of him fooling around. A few people gave him odd glances, wondering what this amputee was so happy about, not to mention he was still dressed in a hospital gown.

The town was a fairly laid-back one, and so far, he has yet to see any Grass-nins walking about, despite being near the border where security was supposed to me much tighter. They were currently in a park, and since it was in the middle of the morning, people were about, mostly mothers with their young kids taking a stroll or playing together under the sun. Suzumi was a little embarrassed being the only visible couple there.

" You know, this is a bit embarrassing...I'm not too sure what to do on a date like this," Hiroshi admitted.

" It's okay, we don't need to do anything," Suzumi replied.

" But..."

" Let's just take a walk, holding hands together," Suzumi suggested.

Hiroshi was currently out of opinions, so he merely went up to her, and held her hand before leading the way. Her hand felt so soft and gentle in his grip, a hand so unlikely to come from a shinobi. It wasn't much, just walking together while holding hands, but Hiroshi felt very happy about it, as if it was some unknown joyous feeling he had never had before.

He looked at Suzumi who walked next to him, her cheeks flushed slightly. He had no idea what compelled him to do it, but he started to look at her, and the more he looked at her, the more he started to observe her even more. The sway of her hair against the wind, her eyelashes, her small yet sharp nose, and bright eyes. Hiroshi wondered why he never picked this up before, and why was he even bothering with the details right now. Suzumi noticed him staring at her intently, and she turned around to face him, wondering what was up.

" Hiroshi? Something wrong with my face?" she asked.

" No, nothing wrong. Just realised that you look very pretty, you know..." Hiroshi replied sheepishly.

She turned away, looking away from him, probably to hide her embarrassment. " ...I think you are the only person who can say that with a straight face," she replied.

" You think so?" Hiroshi asked. They looked at each other, before bursting in a fit of laughter.

-

" ...They what?!" Sora screamed.

" I'm not sure why you have to be so worked up about," Ryouta replied smugly, before leaning back on his chair. Makoto and Hibiki were nearby, and they were clearly enjoying the show. " Suzumi and Hiroshi just went off to enjoy some time by themselves, so why do you even want to bother about them is beyond my comparison."

" Are you shitting me? What if Hiroshi....does something?!" Sora asked.

" You can't be serious? I mean, Suzumi's weak and all, but I bet she can handle a one handed shinobi by herself," Hibiki replied. Makoto laughed loudly, and Ryouta merely chuckled at the statement. " Besides, I thought they were together, and honestly, who here doesn't agree that they make a perfect, loving couple. So, I don't see the problem if they go to somewhere quiet, get comfortable, and get a little intimate..."

Sora leaped from her bed and grabbed him by his collar, shaking him violently. It wasn't as if she had not fully healed and needed to rest on a cot, but it was much easier to keep Hiroshi company if they had a bed as well, which she took ownership of. " Silence, you lousy mongrel! I will not hear another word about it! If Hiroshi does so much as touch her breasts, with her permission given or not, I will murder him!" Sora snarled.

" Why am I feeling an aura of jealousy here? Can't be that you are lonely, right?" Hibiki scoffed sarcastically.

" ...I'll kill you..." Sora snarled.

" I'm not sure about you, but I can keep 'you' company, neurotic as you are, you are kind cute, you know," Hibiki replied seductively.

" What? I'd never..." Sora replied, only to realise that Hibiki was merely distracting her as he suddenly pinched her on her chest.

Sora leaped off her bed like an enraged beast, while Hibiki scooted off, trying not to allow her to get her hands on him, or else there will be hell to pay. He slipped to the corner, hitting the wall and using his hands to bounce himself away just before Sora grabbed hold of him from behind. He jumped up the wall, running a few steps before dropping down, rolling under one of the beds as Sora dove at him.

" ...She just never runs out of energy..." Ryouta sighed.

" They are at the park," Makoto replied all of a sudden.

" What?" Hibiki mused.

" What?!" Sora shouted even louder.

" Hey, why did you tell her?!" Ryouta exclaimed.

" Yeah, they are at the park...oh God, are they kissing?" Makoto mused.

This time, Sora grabbed Makoto instead, shaking him as violently as she did with Hibiki a few moments ago. " You can't be serious! You can't be freaking serious!" she shouted.

Makoto merely made kissing noises, and Sora dropped to the floor, her hands on her ears, wailing quietly. " No...my dear Suzumi is no longer a innocent girl..." she muttered.

" Honestly, sometimes I do not understand how your brain even functions," Hibiki sighed. " ...Is this true?" he asked curiously, looking at Makoto.

Makoto merely replied by making more kissing noises. " Alright, shut it, you. You are being irritating, you little prick," Hibiki groaned, before walking to prod Sora with his feet, who was still on the ground, sobbing slightly.

" Is he still mad?" Ryouta asked.

" Well, looks like he obviously is, but I don't really mind, honest," Makoto replied.

" Hey, when you want to speak something private, you should not speak about the person, especially when he is still here," Hibiki replied. Ryouta and Makoto merely cracked broad grins when Hibiki spoke. " Argh, you idiots are annoying. Where the hell is the anaesthesia when you need it!?"

-

Hiroshi didn't really know what time it was now, since he had been having too much fun. He couldn't remember the last time where he had so much fun by just walking aimlessly around. Suzumi stayed quiet the whole while, both of them merely enjoying their presence together.

They were pretty much alone, with most of the people in the park getting used to the sight of Hiroshi now. His hand was getting a little sweaty now since he had been holding her hand for so long, and it felt slightly uncomfortable. A sudden thought occurred to him, before pulling his hand away. Suzumi looked at him curiously, wondering what was up.

" Sorry, my hands were getting a little sweaty," Hiroshi apologised, before wiping his sweaty hands on his attire, before holding Suzumi's hand again.

Suzumi merely giggled. " Hahaha, do you think I would have mind?" she asked sweetly.

Hiroshi pondered for a while. " ...Well, now that you mentioned it, I guess it's your character to not care that much about trivial things like this," Hiroshi answered. " ...Guess that's why you are my angel..."

" ...Are you alright?" Suzumi asked worriedly.

Hiroshi felt the question was out of place, and he wondered what made her worry all of a sudden, cutting his expectation of a cute reply for his comment earlier. However, he suddenly felt a trickle of sweat run down his forehead, and he understood her concern at once. Although the sun was out, the park was pretty shady with all the trees surrounding them, and it was not warm enough to warrant him to start sweating. He had just recently recovered, and although he was feeling fine, he figured he was pushing his body a little bit.

" Nah, I'm fine, really," Hiroshi answered, trying to calm her down.

" You seem to be sweating a bit, why don't we sit down?" she suggested.

" ...I'm not that weak..." Hiroshi muttered.

" No, but I want to take a rest. Can I sit down?" Suzumi asked.

Hiroshi liked how she liked to phrase sentences for other people's sake, so he decided to amuse her. They picked a bench by the side of the park, and sat down quietly. Hiroshi was just a little lost for words. They usually were able to talk properly, even if it was engaging in small talk, but that was usually in the company of their friends.

A soft wind blew by him, and he somehow managed to catch the scent of Suzumi's hair. It smelt delightful, although he then started to feel guilty because he started to have dirty thoughts. He timidly took a peek at her, only to see her not looking at his direction.

_Damn it, I feel like hugging her somehow...wait, might she take it from me as being too forward?...Hold on, am I an idiot...how the hell am I supposed to hug her with one hand...hmm, what about putting an arm over her shoulder...that should be close enough... _Hiroshi thought to himself.

Suzumi didn't seem to notice as Hiroshi raised his hand ever so gently behind her. Hiroshi took a deep breath, hoping Suzumi wouldn't mind him putting his hand around her shoulders, and softly placed his arm in place. It was all it took for Suzumi to turn around towards him, looking at him in surprise, her eyes wide with shock.

" Gah, wait...it was just the spur of the moment, nothing to it, don't think badly of me!" Hiroshi started to stammer hurriedly in an apology, pulling his arm off her shoulder, only to realise Suzumi's eyes were transfixed in fear. Hiroshi was pretty sure placing an arm on her shoulder should not give rise to fear of any sort.

" Huh?"

He didn't realise it at first, but soon enough, he noticed that the people in the park seem to be dropping off to sleep. To be honest, he did notice one guy falling off to sleep on a bench, but that didn't warrant any worry, but now, everyone in the park seemed to be sleeping, or had been put to sleep, besides Suzumi and him.

_Holy shit, genjutsu!?_ Hiroshi thought, figuring that Suzumi must have realised someone had cast a genjutsu powerful enough to put ordinary people to sleep, except people of their calibre. Hiroshi looked back at Suzumi, only to see her fearful eyes not focused on him, but something behind him.

He spun around in alarm, only to see several figures standing behind him, before his world went dark.

-

Ryouta looked up from the struggling Sora and Hibiki, who were both grappling each other and rolling on the ground, to see Makoto, since he suddenly twitched in his seat. He looked curiously at him, before his curiosity turned to alarm as Makoto suddenly jumped up from his chair, as if he had been hit by an electric shock. Even Sora and Hibiki noticed this oddity and stopped wrestling with each other for a while now.

" ...What's wrong?" Ryouta asked with concern.

" ...Quick, follow me!" Makoto exclaimed, before springing from the spot he was standing upon, before taking out of the room. Ryouta immediately followed him, and so did Sora and Hibiki.

" Wait, hang on, what's the big idea!?" Sora exclaimed.

" Suzumi and Hiroshi just got attacked," Makoto answered.

" Huh? If this is a joke, I'm not..."

" This isn't a damn joke! It was just by Sora's earlier suggestion. I didn't really want to, but I guess I just used my jutsu to expend my hearing range, and I managed to trace them to the park nearby. However, just seconds ago, some figures arrived at the park, and now Suzumi's rooted to where she stands, while this strange group has carted Hiroshi off," Makoto exclaimed.

" What?!" both Hibiki and Sora exclaimed loudly.

" We'll confirm it when we get there!" Ryouta replied urgently. " Makoto, get us there, now, at top speed!"

All four of them rushed off, while the people walking about in the town payed them no attention. It didn't take them too much time to get to their destination. All of them skidded to a halt when they managed to reach their destination, only to see the park full of sleeping people.

" Crap, looks like some genjutsu..." Sora muttered.

Makoto dashed off towards the middle of the park, before all of them managed to spot Suzumi lying crumpled on the ground, not moving. Sora was the first to reach her, leaping towards her within a second. She picked up Suzumi's unmoving body carefully in his hands, not wanting to risk injuring her further if she did somehow managed to sustain any injuries.

" How...is she?" Hibiki asked tentatively.

" She's...fine, she's breathing normally, I guess..." Sora mused.

" I think she just has been knocked out," Ryouta replied, before placing his hands on her shoulders, shaking her slightly, patting her cheeks once in a while. " Suzumi, hey, Suzumi...wake up."

Very slowly, Suzumi's eyes opened, and her iris started to focus on her friends around her. " Geez, you had me worried for a minute. How..." Sora started.

" Hiroshi!" Suzumi exclaimed in a loud voice, suddenly sitting up all of a sudden, hitting her head on Ryouta's, sending him reeling backwards. " Hiroshi! Where is he?!"

" Suzumi, calm down. Just tell us calmly what just happened here!" Hibiki replied.

" Shinobis! Some shinobis suddenly appeared all of a sudden. They cast a genjutsu to put everyone here to sleep. There were at least 5 of them, maybe more. They caught Hiroshi and took him away. I tried to stop them, but they...they...*sob*...knocked me out..." Suzumi explained, before tears started to drop down her cheeks. " ...They...they took Hiroshi from me..."

" Damn it, we need to inform the authorities of this. Dumb Grass-nins, where the hell are they? They suck at security if they somehow managed to allow strange foreign shinobis to enter the town like this!" Sora spat. " You guys stay here, I'll go find the authorities!"

" No, don't..." Makoto replied.

" No, are you out of your mind?! A bunch of guys just came here and took off with Hiroshi! I think you know darn well why they did that, especially with Shikamaru's explanation of the situation...I just didn't think they would be this bold," Hibiki shot back. " Are you suggesting that we let him be?!"

" ...The hell does Shikamaru have to do with this?" Sora asked. " Wait, is this something I was not made aware of? If so, I'm going to be very angry if you say yes..."

Makoto picked them up with surprising strength, before slamming them to the trunk of a nearby tree with some force, making them wince in pain even. Hibiki and Sora tried to free themselves, but Makoto seemed to stick to them with a force that was unlike any other.

" Makoto!" Ryouta exclaimed in alarm.

" Listen, you little punks, it's you two who are not thinking properly! Consider this, we are in a Grass territory. I'm pretty Lady Kaguya is indebted to us, but unless we go through her, how long do you think it will take for us to alert the authorities? Also, do you think the Grass-nins are going to risk their necks for one of us? I know we are allies, but I believe it will be hard for us to justify a need for us to get them to rescue Hiroshi," Makoto explained. " Plus, even if we go off now, and if they by some miraculous chance agree to our plea for help, it would take a good 5 minutes to assemble a team. Unless the team that abducted Hiroshi was interrupted by some unknown factor, he might very well be gone within that 5 minutes."

Both Hibiki and Sora calmed down, looking at him intently.

" But we are shinobi, aren't we? You have got the best tracker on this side of the continent...me. I can still hear where the pursuers are going, and since one of them is carrying what sounds like an unconscious Hiroshi, I wager we can catch up to them if we chase them, and I mean now," Makoto replied.

" ...You mean we mount a rescue mission by ourselves?" Sora asked.

" I see this as the only viable option to get Hiroshi back, without increasing the chance of losing him," Makoto replied.

" Then it is set," Ryouta replied, standing up. " Hiroshi saved me back then in our previous mission, and I'll need to return the favour. We will not allow these unknown flunkies to abduct our friend in such an unscrupulous manner. I'm in."

" Damn right, I've got no one to bully now! Count me in!" Sora exclaimed enthusiastically.

" ...You know I'm in this shit," Hibiki replied, grinning fiercely.

" I'm coming as well..." Suzumi replied.

" No, you've been through quite a bit. You need to stay back and let us handle this," Ryouta replied.

" No, I want to bring Hiroshi back! I lost him in front of my eyes. I'm not going to let you all go on some merry mission to get him back without me. I'm coming, whether you like it or not!" Suzumi replied fiercely.

Ryouta tried to object, but Sora stopped him, grabbing his shoulder with her hand. " Ryouta, there is no need to hold her back. These idiotic flunkies just stole her boyfriend. I say we let her come and rip them a new asshole," Sora replied. " As they say, hell hath no fury like a women pissed, especially when her boyfriend is involved."

" Hey, you just made that up!" Hibiki argued.

" Fine, let's all go. We'll need all the combat skills and medical abilities we can afford," Ryouta replied. " Makoto, lead the way!"

Makoto gave a curt nod, before leaping off, with the rest of them following him closely as they exited the town within seconds.


	34. Chapter 33: Hiroshi Recovery Mission

**Chapter 33: Hiroshi Recovery Mission**

" What?!" Sora screamed loudly. " You can't be fucking serious! Hiroshi has a bounty!? I don't even have one!"

" It's not a joking matter, Sora, nor is it something to be bragging about!" Ryouta responded sternly as they continued to charge along through the forest, guided by Makoto who was tracking down the people who abducted Hiroshi by sound. " You think it's great and all, but Hiroshi's going to live through his life with people trying to get the prize on his head. I know being a shinobi is dangerous and all, but it's not fun when danger is always seeking you."

" It's not like he's going to get hunted all the time, right? I mean, other people have bounties as well," Sora replied.

" Sora, you are some insensitive fag," Hibiki mused.

" I dare you to say that again!" Sora snarled.

" 20 million on Hiroshi's head, according to Shikamaru-sensei, is overpriced for a Chuunin. Shinobis who know him will flock him to get his prize, because he will be an easy target. Some jounins with bounties on their heads don't even surpass the 10 million mark. Getting to Hiroshi for elite combatants would be as easy as taking candy from a baby," Hibiki answered. " Look, all I'm saying is he's in a tight spot. Here's an excellent example: a bunch of guys just randomly entered a Grass town and whisk Hiroshi out from under our nose, and this was just about a week after the bounty notice has been set up."

" I didn't know that…Shikimaru told you, not me!" Sora replied.

" I believe that whoever abducted Hiroshi comes from the same group whom we have been protecting Lady Kaguya from," Makoto replied.

" …You have got to be kidding me…" Ryouta responded. " …No, wait, that makes perfect sense!"

" How?" Suzumi asked.

" Consider this: Hiroshi never got a bounty on his head until the mission, and the only people we came into contact with was the organization after Lady Kaguya. It's obvious, from the display of whatever abilities he had, they were the ones who placed a bounty on his head," Ryouta explained. " It would make sense that they would go after him."

" …But I still don't understand why would they want him…" Suzumi responded.

" Me neither. It has to be either something valuable he knows, or some skill he possesses, both with I think are highly unlikely to be possible. Let's first consider the skills he is good at: traps, weapons, puppetry, medicine, and cooking. His healing abilities are nowhere as good as yours, and I doubt shinobis are bothered by cooking skills. Puppetry is a rare skill, but only because some people from the Sand village venture into it, unique, but nowhere special enough to warrant them catching him. He's good in traps and weapons, but nothing I can think of that might give reason to his capture…well, for now…" Ryouta answered.

All five of them continued to tear through the forest, chasing after the shinobis who took Hiroshi. Makoto led the way, quietly keeping an ear on them as they kept jumping from one tree branch to another.

" Are you close enough to discern them?" Ryouta asked.

Makoto nodded his head even so slightly. " I hear eight of them in number. The one in the lead is carrying Hiroshi. By my estimates, we should be able to catch up to them in 5 minutes, according…" Makoto replied, before stopping abruptly.

" Makoto?" Suzumi asked, worried that something might have happened.

" …Two of them broke off from the group. If I'm not mistaken, I think they are trying to slow us down," Makoto replied.

" No problem! If they want to set up an ambush, we can take them on!" Sora exclaimed.

" Hang on, shouldn't we exercise prudence? I mean, I'm all for just running them over, but if they decided to stay back, they are most likely going to set up some traps to slow us down. Shouldn't we split up, or either that avoid them altogether?" Hibiki asked. " With Makoto's hearing ability, we should be able to avoid them completely."

" An excellent suggestion, but there are some points to consider," Ryouta replied. " One, we cannot split up, since the only person who can track them is Makoto. Until we can get within a range where we can track them easily on our level, we will have to rely on Makoto to find them. I'm an excellent tracker myself, but most certainly not at this range. Two, some of them split off from their group, which means they were expecting us. Now assuming that they managed to snatch Hiroshi without a hitch, which means that they didn't alert the Grass-nins within the area. So, why are they sending people to stall us, assuming that they didn't know we were coming?"

" Hang on a minute, they could be the same guys we fought before!" Sora exclaimed.

" Now that you mentioned it, it's most likely that this group is headed by Hachi. Considering he knows my ability the best, the move they just pulled meant that they were expecting me to pick up on Hiroshi being missing from the town," Makoto replied in a strained voice. " Ryouta is right. We cannot avoid them. If we are to split, we need to send a small group towards the ones who will be delaying us, just in case they turn around and strike us from behind."

" I think it's dangerous to split now. The enemy is assuming we are coming. If so, then they will have an advantage in terms of an ambush. If we send more than two of us to engage them, we will lower the main group's fighting capabilities, and considering that we are already at a disadvantage with numbers, we cannot afford to engage the main enemy group while weakening ours," Ryouta replied.

" Then there will be no change in plans," Sora replied, punching her fists together. " We will head straight on and crush those little midgets, and then continue on our way!"

" A word of warning," Makoto replied.

" What is it?" Ryouta asked.

" If we are to engage, we will be allowing the main group to drift further and further away. For precaution sake, I'm allotting a maximum of five minutes of combat. Any longer than that, we risk losing Hiroshi completely," Makoto replied. " Are we clear?"

" Most certainly…" Ryouta replied quietly.

" ….Very well. Your orders, Ryouta, for our battle formation?" Makoto asked.

-

Two shinobis waited patiently on one of the many tree branches, both of them holding kunais in their hands, as if they were expecting something to happen. One of them looked impatient, twirling his kunai within his fingers, before spitting towards the side.

" Hey, Okita, are you sure they'll be coming? I don't trust that Hachi to give us correct information. What of they are trying to dump us here and run off somewhere else?" one of them asked angrily.

" Come now, Natsu, there is no need to be hasty. They will come, alright," Okita replied, before looking up. " Well, speak of the devil…"

All of a sudden, three shinobis suddenly crashed into view, bursting out from the tree branches and leaping towards the two of them Okita observed that there was a Leaf-nin and two Sand-nins in this group, and Sand-nins comprised of a female and a male who had his headband covered over his eyes. He raised his eyebrows, wondering where the other two shinobis were as stated in the report.

" You are wide open!" someone shouted.

Okiat ducked in an instant, only to feel something fly over his head, something quick and lightning fast. The fist came out of nowhere and swiped at where his head once was, missing it by a fraction of a second. Okita suddenly felt odd vibrations ring throughout his head, before his vision started to become dizzy a little bit.

_Hmm, Sound techniques…_he thought to himself.

" Okita!" Natsu exclaimed loudly.

" Watch your back!" Okita warned.

Hibiki appeared right behind him, before his spear shot out from his side. Sora and Hibiki managed to take a long detour, with some guidance from Makoto, to circle around to strike Natsu and Okita from behind. Ryouta was hoping that with the sudden entrance they made, it would give Sora and Hibiki some chance to strike a decisive blow to their adversaries. But with Natsu parrying Hibiki's spear with his bare hands, almost cutting himself as his hand brushed against the spear's blade, their chances for a quick, short battle was destroyed.

Makoto wasted no time in forming his seals and throwing something invisible from his hands. Natsu and Okita leaped up, avoiding the almost invisible wind blades as they came flying towards them, ripping the branch they were standing on to shreds. They swiftly kicked themselves away, jumping along the tree trunks before landing on the ground some distance away.

" Well as expected, you guys did show up," Okiat replied calmly, looking at them. Sora and Hibiki moved around to surround them from behind, while the others advanced to the front carefully. " Looks like you had anticipated us waiting here. I guess it was to your disadvantage that all of you came here to deal with us. I think it would have been prudent to split your team."

" Nothing to it, you piece of trash!" Sora shouted. " We will just beat the crap out of you in two seconds and get our good friend Hiroshi back."

" Hoh, you seem willing to go through this for the sake of your friend," Okita replied. " Did you ever wonder why he had a bounty?"

Sora paused, wondering why they were bringing this up.

" Sora, don't fall for his trick! They're decoys, and they are stalling for time. Don't think about their question!" Ryouta shouted, realizing what they were up to.

" You think you are capable of acting?!" Natsu exclaimed.

Suzumi suddenly gave a cry of pain as something scrapped her left thigh, leaving a gash on her thigh, bleeding slightly. Her knees buckled slightly, and Ryouta tried to dash up to help her, but he was interrupted when Natsu skidded into his view, taking the opportunity of the distraction to sock him hard in the jaw. Ryouta reeled backwards, recovering quickly, but their distraction proved to be more than enough, as Okita managed to use the time span of Natsu's attack to catch Suzumi. She winced slightly as he pressed a sharp blade against her neck.

" Shit!" Sora spat.

" Oh no, you don't," Okita replied, rounding on Sora while holding Suzumi tightly, with the blade pressed against her neck. " You wouldn't want to leave a nasty scar on her neck. If any of you have the balls to take another step, I'm going to paint the ground red. So, don't you dare move."

Ryouta gritted his teeth in frustration, knowing that he was caught in a compromising situation. If he did nothing about it, Suzumi would be safe for the moment, but Hiroshi would get further and further away. If they do take action, Suzumi's position would be compromised, and either way, they would still lose someone. Worst off, if they managed to waste enough time, they would eventually lose Hiroshi altogether, and Suzumi would be deemed useless as a hostage.

Sora wondered if she was quick enough to intercept the knife before it struck, but Okita seemed to sense her actions, and turned to her. " Now, don't get any fancy ideas, little girl," Okita replied, pressing the blade hard enough to cut Suzumi's neck, causing some blood to trickle out from the wound.

" Son of a…" Sora snarled, clenching her fists hard.

" I said, no ideas," Okita replied, pressing the blade even harder. Ryouta and Hibiki winced as they saw more blood flow out from her neck. Suzumi did her best to not cry out in pain, and the blade had sunk pretty deep enough cause some amount of blood to flow out. " I won't hesitate to kill her, you know that very well."

" Forget about me, just hit him!" Suzumi exclaimed.

" Hey, I don't want them to get any ideas, so don't give them any," Okita snarled menacingly.

" Sora, hit them!" Suzumi exclaimed.

" Don't be an idiot! He'll kill you!" Sora argued back.

" Don't mind me! Just hit him!" Suzumi screamed.

Sora was about to argue back, but just within a span of a split second, she could have sworn that she winked at her. She had no idea whether if it was an illusion or not, but she felt Suzumi winked at her while she was screaming for her to hit Okita. Sora frowned, wondering what Suzumi had in mind, but knowing her, she might have a plan up her sleeve. It was Hiroshi on the line her, and Suzumi isn't going to allow some hostage situation stop her.

Sora closed her eyes, before taking a deep breath. Without warning, she shot forward, despite the cries of horror from Makoto and Hibiki.

Okita was more than ready to slit Suzumi's throat, but just in that split second, something struck the blade he was holding, and it went crashing to the ground, knocked out of his hand with some impressive force. Free now, Suzumi pulled herself free, just as Sora came in, her fist flying at the speed of a comet. Okita raised his hand defensively to block the blow, only to feel some of his bones crack as Sora's fist made contact with his hand as he blocked the blow.

" What…!?" he gasped.

Sora's punch forced him back several meters, his right hand now hurting from the broken bones and force Sora applied from the punch. She was grinning madly at him, with Suzumi at her side, fixing the nick on her neck without wasting any time. He was puzzled as to how Suzumi managed to free herself and knock his weapon aside, before he spotted another blade stuck to the ground where he had previously dropped his blade. It was a long dagger, with sharp jagged edges all along the blade. Obviously, someone had thrown that weapon.

" You came!" Suzumi exclaimed happily.

Okita and Natsu spun around in alarm, turning towards were Suzumi was looking up towards. High up on one of the tree branches behind them stood a Grass-nin, his forehead protector worn proudly on his forehead, donning a simple dark cotton vest and a swirling cloak that fluttered behind his back. In his right hand as a jagged dagger, one similar to the one Okita saw stuck to the ground.

" A Grass-nin? What's a Grass-nin doing in this affair?" Natsu snarled at the Grass-nin.

Kira merely glared down at them with a bored expression, his eyes glancing around as if he was merely there for the show. " Nothing…but my master owes them a great debt, and I am here to repay my master's debts," Kira replied, raising his dagger and pointing it towards them. " Go. Every moment wasted here means Hiroshi gets closer and closer towards the enemy border. If he goes too far, he will be lost forever. You must get him back."

Ryouta took a step forward. " Wait, Kira, you can't…" he started.

" Ryouta, many thanks for escorting Lady Kaguya to safety. If you don't mind, I shall join in this mission to rescue your dear friend Hiroshi. I personally dislike to see him taken in such a fashion," Kira replied. " Go, I shall deal with these two myself."

" Are you capable of doing so?" Ryouta asked.

Kira's next reaction almost made them do a double-take. Kira suddenly broke into a malicious grin, one that could rival Sora at her worst, glaring down at his opponents. " …Are you kidding me? I'm just hoping they won't make me yawn…" he replied, before cracking up in maniacal laughter.


	35. Chapter 34: Ishikawa Kira

**Chapter 34: Ishikawa Kira**

Ryouta wasn't sure why Kira was here, but he was grateful nevertheless. Kira's arrival and his intention to help them was reassuring enough, and it was because of him they were able to free Suzumi. Ryouta wondered if Suzumi's earlier exclamation came because she somehow knew he had arrived. Either way, they didn't have much time to spare, and Kira was right. They had wasted valuable time here, and Kira had volunteered to deal with these two people. Ryouta decided to trust in his abilities.

" Alright, leave these two flunkies to Kira! Move out!" Ryouta exclaimed.

All of them followed his lead, rushing off towards where the abductors took Hiroshi. Natsu and Okita tried to intercept them but Kira leaped down in front of them, his dagger glinting with the rays of the sun. They hesitated when he dropped in front of them all of a sudden, blocking their advance.

" Tch, damn you, Grass-nin," Natsu spat.

" …You must be the people behind the recent attempt on Lady Kaguya's life. I shall take yours here as compensation for the trouble she had to go through," Kira replied.

" Damn Grass dog, you can go to hell!" Natsu screamed.

Natsu leaped in front to punch Kira, only to hit thin air. Something whipped around him, and he spun around, expecting Kira to flank his side, only to receive a kick to the back of his head. Natsu went sprawling on the ground, while Kira skidded next to the dagger he had thrown to free Suzumi previously, picking it up casually. Looking behind him, Ryouta and the rest had already left the area at top speed, chasing after Hiroshi.

" Calm down, Natsu, we just need to deal with this idiot, then we can catch up with them from behind," Okita replied. " After all, if we deal with him carefully, we can deal with him easily."

" …Hmph, such arrogance. You presume to expect that I will go down easily?" Kira asked mockingly.

" No, I doubt it, and I am not looking down on your capabilities. However, if you study your opponent carefully, you can find their flaws and defects, and I always exploit them. Perhaps I should explain your weaknesses?" Okita asked. Kira merely frowned at him, not saying a word. " …Don't want to hear it? Well, I'll just come out and say it anyway."

" From your build, and choice of weapon, I can say that you specialize in assassination. Thus, your skills in taijutsu and close combat should be quite excellent, perhaps dangerous. No doubt, those daggers are your weapon of choice, and I assume you are fairly proficient with them. No doubt speed is your forte, along with very swift and dexterous fingers. However, a dark, brooding guy like you, genjutsu is hardly within your league, and your knowledge in ninjutsu is probably weak, if not non-existant," Okita explained.

" …You bore me. Anyone can see that with just one glance at me," Kira replied.

" However, despite never having seen you fight before, I can say one weakness in your combat technique," Okita replied.

" …"

" You are only skilled at handling one-on-one combat," Okita replied.

" …I don't see that as that great of a weakness," Kira replied.

" Oh, I think it is…" Okita replied, before breaking into a grin.

Kira whipped around as a kunai suddenly shot out of nowhere. He did a half-spin to avoid the attack, but not before Okita and Natsu charged at him. He raised his arm, his dagger making contact with Okita's kunai, sparks flying as the metal made contact. Natsu sent a flying kick towards Kira, who blocked it with his arm.

Despite his efforts, something hit him in the gut hard, sending him stumbling backwards. Kira composed himself, glaring back at the both of them while rubbing the spot where he had been hit.

" Hmph, you don't seemed surprised by that move," Okita replied.

Kira merely braced himself. There had to be some trick to their moves, and he need to figure it out, the faster the better. He remembered the lone kunai being thrown at him. Looking quickly around, he could not spot it anywhere. He pondered, wondering if it was merely a fake, merely to serve as a distraction to allow Okita and Natsu to launch their attack.

If so, then where did that invisible attack come from? He was pretty sure he did not see Okita or Natsu move after he parried their blows, yet something hit him from the front. What was that attack? He didn't even see it coming.

" Let's see how long you can hold up," Okita replied, snapping his fingers.

Once more, Kira's heightened senses informed him of an incoming projectile, and his hand immediately moved up towards the left side of his face, just as something struck his dagger. The kunai went flying into the air, spinning rapidly, before falling to the ground.

_Hmm, that's definitely not fake, but a real genuine kunai…_ Kira thought.

Okita and Natsu rushed at him at the same time as soon as Kira blocked the kunai from striking his face, this time moving in from the sides. Kira decided to take the initiative, and leaped at them, his daggers lashed at their faces, but before he could connect the attack, something struck him on his face, sending him toppling on the ground. Natsu tried to stomp on him as he was on the ground, but Kira quickly rolled aside, before getting back up on his feet in a second. Leaving himself vulnerable on the ground was a death sentence, especially more so now.

_Odd, they didn't even move, so where is this physical attack coming from?_ Kira thought to himself. Once again, his eyes started to roam all around, before he came to realize that the kunai that struck him out of nowhere was missing again. _…Where is it? My dagger made contact with the kunai, so it has been verified that it was real, but why is it now missing?_

" Looking for this?" Okita asked.

Kira merely narrowed his eyes when he saw Okita spin a kunai in his hands. Kira could not make sure whether it was the same kunai, not to mention that Okita had been carrying a kunai previously and Kira had not seen him throw it, but he was curious as to wonder why would Okita make such a claim.

" Want to see a neat trick?" Okita asked, before tossing the kunai into the air.

Kira's eyes widened slightly when the kunai disappeared all of a sudden. His eyes widened further when he saw a kunai flying towards him on his left.

…_What?!_ He thought as the weapon flew so very close to his face.

---

_" Kira?"_

_Kira turned his attention towards Lady Kaguya, who was looking at him curiously. Tayu was not with them today, since she had been sent on an errand, so Kira had the entire morning with Lady Kaguya alone. He didn't flinch, or so much twitch, when he heard his name being mentioned, only to turn his head towards his liege, and looked at her with a bored face._

_" Yes?" he mused._

_" …What do you think of it? Your job, or what you do," Lady Kaguya asked all of a sudden._

_" …What do you mean?" Kira asked._

_" I mean, what do you think of yourself as a shinobi? What motivated you to become one? I know Tayu does it only because of her adoration of me, but I've never heard your reasons. Perhaps you decided to follow Tayu along, but you always seem so distant, as if something else was on your mind, or perhaps this wasn't the calling you were asked to do," Lady Kaguya replied. " …Besides, you never did talk much."_

_" …There was no need…" Kira answered curtly._

_" Honestly, you should speak for yourself, you know. I treat you equally as I do to everyone else, so there is no need to be so informal. Status aside, I am human as well, just like you are," Lady Kaguya replied. Kira didn't answer, but merely looked at her in the same old expression. She sighed, before walking away. " Well, guess you'll never talk. Don't mind me, I was just being curious, the spur of the moment."_

_" …It…"_

_Lady Kaguya stopped in her tracks as Kira suddenly spoke to her. Kira tried to form his words, but looked like he had some difficulty. " …It's…not that I do not wish to speak…" he muttered after a while. " It's just that…I can't find the right words…if you would like to wait…"_

_Lady Kaguya didn't need another invitation. She instantly drew up the closest chair she could find, before sitting down on it, looking at Kira like an eager child waiting to listen to a bedtime story._

_" I honestly don't know myself. I have been brought up in an environment where I had to fight to survive the day. Most certainly a peaceful life was not one that I would relish. It is not that I dislike your personal goals, or that violence should be the way of life. Perhaps it just has been ingrained in me," Kira replied._

_" So…you became a shinobi just to fight?" Lady Kaguya asked._

_" I believe so," Kira replied._

_" Then why serve as my retainer?" Lady Kaguya asked. " If it's a fight you want, why serve as someone who protects?"_

_" It would be hypocritical of me to explain it in my terms, but if I'm to do something sinful, I may as well do it for the greater good," Kira answered. " Besides, not everyone in the Grass nation, nor do other nations, agree with most of your policies. It will not be long before you make enemies. I shall have my fight then, and I shall savour it well."_

_Lady Kaguya merely observed him, passively glancing at her. " Do you…think less of me now?" he asked._

_" How could I?" Lady Kaguya asked, chuckling slightly, just as Tayu suddenly entered the room, carrying a few bags in her hand. " After all, Kira, I trust you with my life, regardless of the circumstances."_

---

" Nice reflexes," Okita replied.

Kira merely avoided the attack by a hair's breath. The kunai grazed the side of his cheeks, leaving an ugly gash on his side. It would heal with time, but now it stung painfully, but pain was a good way to force him to keep his focus on his opponents. Blood dripped down his face, but he didn't really bother about it. The fight he was experiencing now was more important than a bleeding cheek.

" What's the matter? Can't keep up?" Natsu taunted him. " I thought you said you would be taking care of both of us? Looks like you can't keep up with us."

Kira thought hard. He was obviously loosing here since both of them were using some trick to their advantage. If he could just figure out what their trick was, he could probably easily deal with it. Just as the attack was finished, his mind started to focus at the important task on dealing with this problem. His eyes scanned the field of combat, trying to catch sight of the most important thing in the field: the kunai that hit him.

He spotted it lying on the ground not too far away. He took a moment to consider why they decided to discard the kunai now, since they were previously reusing the same weapon. He pondered for a moment, wondering why they decided to discard it all of a sudden. The answer dawned on him within less than a second, and he broke into a grin.

" Sorry, trying to intimidate us with that grin is just not going to cut it," Okita replied. Both Natsu and Okita charged at him at once, preparing to strike at the same time.

Kira merely slipped his daggers back in their sheaths in one swift motion, before shooting his hand forward, catching something invisible in the air, just as Okita and Natsu's arm flew past him, passing through his body as if they were ethereal.

" Let me tell you dweebs something: you are just too predictable!" Kira exclaimed.

His released his grip on the invisible objects he caught, his hands flying towards his daggers. In less than a second, he had unsheathed them, and whipped them in front of him. Splatters of blood spurted out in the middle of thin air, dripping all over the place as the blood flowed all over the place.

Kira hopped back a few spaces. " Now, I can track you both despite being invisible," Kira replied, before a massive surge of chakra flowed through his body. The surge of power was so great his hair started to stand on its hand, as if there was a powerful gust of wind blowing up from below where he stood.

" First gate: Open!" Kira exclaimed.

Very faintly, he could hear the movement of people, the sound of people rushing off. Okita and Natsu must have split off, not wanting to become an easy target for Kira. By opening the gates, one could remove the limiters within one's body to channel more power and energy through the body, but not at a cost. The human body is unable to withstand all the stress that it has to endure with the overflow of chakra, and thus, the gates could be opened for a limited time only, and not to mention when the gate's ability is finished, the user would be drained of energy, leaving them vulnerable. Natsu and Okita had split up, rushing off in two directions. If Kira was to chase one of them, by the time he finishes his intended target, he would be approaching his limit, and the other could come in and finish him off.

" Divide and conquer, huh?" Kira mused.

Kira instantly moved to his right, at such a speed that it was almost as if he had warped himself to the spot. His blade stuck out as he lashed his arm out, hitting something invisible in the air at the spot where he appeared. He yanked his dagger free, the sound of scrunching flesh ringing loudly in the air. Something heavy dropped to the ground, but Kira didn't need to check out what it was.

Once more, he moved off again to his next target at blinding speeds, appearing over 50 meters from where he originally was in less than a fraction of a second. His blades flashed in the air, striking an invisible object once more, drawing out and sheathing his daggers so quickly one could not even see the blade being removed from the sheaths. Something crumpled to the ground, and after a few seconds, Okita's slump body appeared as if conjured by magic on the ground, bleeding profoundly from his wounds.

" …you…missed?' Okita gasped in surprise.

" No, I did not. As you surmised, I am an assassin-type shinobi. I can easily kill you quickly, or I can just as easily choose not to. I have chosen the latter, because I felt like it. No doubt I missed your heart, but it is only a temporary respite, for you shall soon die of blood loss. Wallow in pain, feeble ignorant brat, because I am going to yawn now since you have given me such apathetic display of skill," Kira replied.

" This…isn't possible…the reports…didn't state that you…were this good…" Okita gasped, before coughing out blood.

" I'm not aware that you had an intelligence division, but allow me to say one thing: my combat style deals in one-to-one fights, maybe two shinobis, but that would be pushing it. Thus, I only excel in singular combat. I have yet to show my true abilities during my course with you people. Of course, you were mistaken with your judgment of my capabilities. I may only be a chuunin, but if it's purely a one-on-one fight, my abilities are comparable to a jounin," Kira replied.

Kira slowly felt the surge of chakra in his body start to die down as the Gate's effects died off. The muscles in his body started to ache, and it hurt just trying to stand, but the pain will soon pass after a while. Opening only the first Gate wasn't overly serious to hamper much of his capabilities, and if he waited for a while, he would be back to normal.

" …Why…are you helping them?' Okita asked.

" Because I am a whimsical man," Kira answered. " There is nothing more to it."


	36. Chapter 35: Old Comrade

**Chapter 35: Old Comrade**

" How far do we have to go?" Ryouta asked.

" We are quickly gaining on them. They haven't done anything along the way, so I assume they felt confident in having those two shinobis taking care of us. In a few minutes, we will be able to catch up to them," Makoto replied confidently.

" Alright, I'm going to tear them a new asshole! Bring it on!" Sora exclaimed excitedly.

" Calm down, you crazy fool. We need a plan to approach them. Rushing in like some idiot would be careless of us," Hibiki replied, before turning to Ryouta. " Hey, we need an attack plan, or we are going to face some difficulties in fighting our opponents. What is our course of action?"

" We go in, and kick their asses," Ryouta replied.

" Right, a sound course of...wait, what the hell did you just say? I was asking for a sane opinion to tackle this problem. If I wanted to charge in like some idiot, I would ask Sora for advice, not you!" Hibiki exclaimed loudly.

" This is a sound plan. We have faced them before. We just hit them hard and fast, and I believe that would be sufficient. There is no real need for a plan here. Instinct is going to guide us here," Ryouta replied.

" I second that!" Makoto and Suzumi exclaimed.

" Wait...did everyone except me just lose their sanity?" Hibiki groaned.

Makoto suddenly slammed his leg hard on one of the branches, stopping his movement. Pushing as hard as he could, he suddenly leaped backwards, grabbing Ryouta and Hibiki, yanking them backwards all of a sudden just as the branch he was standing on previously exploded into smithereens. Sora and Suzumi leaped aside, avoiding all the splinters of wood and pieces of debris that came flying in their direction.

" Crap, that was close..." Hibiki spat, before looking up.

Hachi stood in front of them, standing proudly with his arms folded. Five large humanoid figures cloaked in dark robes that covered most of their features stood next to him, although despite the lack of features it was almost impossible to not recognise them as his puppets. The five of them glared at him, as if they had suddenly descended on a small army. Indeed, the presence of his puppets alone was more than enough to warrant caution, despite having a force of numbers.

" ...Tch, so the main boss shows his face. Come on, let's beat the shit out of this punk and leave him to rot here," Sora replied, cracking her knuckles.

Ryouta grabbed her shoulders, stopping her from taking another step forward. " Stop, a puppeteer is as powerful as the number of puppets he has or control. He may be a lone combatant, but his puppets are enough to put him on an even footing," Ryouta replied.

" Wise observation," Hachi replied. " ...It is your puppeteer friend that we need. We don't need the rest of you, so leave. I'm not in the mood today, so if you turn your tail right now, I'll spare your lives."

" Fuck that!" Suzumi shouted back. It took everyone back by surprise, since they could not even remember the last time Suzumi ever spouted profanity. " Hand Hiroshi back, or so help me, I shall pry your heart out of your damn corpse with my hands."

" Never thought words such as that were befitting for a girl like you, but I guess things can change," Hachi replied. " If it's going to be any consolation, we want him alive, so he will live regardless of what happens. I can swear on that."

" Don't fuck with me! You think I'm going to walk away?! Who the hell are you to talk, you damn traitor?! I'll never believe a traitor such as you! Liar! Cunt! Devil!" Suzumi spat. The tone of malice coming from her voice was even making Sora wince.

" ...He's telling the truth..."

Everyone spun on Makoto, who said those words calmly. Even Hachi looked surprised at the reply. Makoto didn't even flinch, although some of his friends were shooting him dirty looks, namely Hibiki and Suzumi.

" I can hear things properly, and Hachi is being honest," Makoto replied. " But...tell us, Hachi. Why do you want Hiroshi? To what benefit is it to capture a puppeteer? If it's a puppeteer you want for your organisation, you should be more than enough to surfice."

" ...You really do not know why we want him, do you?" Hachi replied mockingly.

" Tell us..." Makoto replied.

" And will you leave if I tell you the reason why?" Hachi asked.

" I'll consider it," Makoto replied.

" I can't believe you are trying to pull some shit like this..." Sora replied.

" ...Have you observed the explosive notes Hiroshi uses?" Hachi asked.

" Explosive notes?" Ryouta asked, before suddenly realising why Hiroshi was wanted all of a sudden. It made so much sense now that he thought about it.

Explosive notes were made by sealing volatile gases, usually oxygen or hydrogen, within a tag, along with a seal for a spark. Once chakra was channelled into the seal, the seal will slowly corrode, and realise the gases and spark. The result would be a powerful blast. The standard procedure was a standard for all shinobi nations. An explosive tag made in Konoha would not differ in any way from one made by any other shinobi countries.

This was because of the limitations of the tag. No matter how much one tried, they could not make the explosion more potent or more powerful, without the increase in monetary cost or time. Each explosive tag was set to explode with a certain force, due to the amount of gas it can contain. Many shinobis had tried, but despite all the changes they tried to make, they could not make the explosive note any mere potent without incurring a massive monetary cost or making it time consuming. In a war, this economical cost was not valid, since custom made explosive notes, despite being useful and powerful, was not financially sound in such a situation.

And yet, Hiroshi had been making his own explosive notes, since he makes all his weapons by himself, even the kunais and shurikens, since he loved to make alterations to them. And more towards the fact, his explosive notes were much better then the typical ones. They exploded in a larger radius, had more potency, and a controllable corroding seal. Being able to explode in a larger radius was a plus in itself.

Yet, Hiroshi never seemed to run out of costs despite making his own weapons. Hiroshi prided himself in never taking money out from the treasury to fund his weapons research. It didn't strike him as odd now, but now that he thought of it, Hiroshi always had an abundance of his custom explosive notes always ready to be used. Hiroshi used them regularly, more than a normal shinobi should. Shinobis used explosive notes sparingly not only because they are a useful tool, but because they were expensive as well, but money was of no concern to Hiroshi. This meant he was manufacturing explosive notes that were much more potent that they standard issue ones they gave out to them at a much lower cost.

The implications were dire. If Hiroshi's formula for this explosive note was to be leaked to another country, there could easily be a shift in the power balance. The enemy could produce weapons that was twice as potent at a third of the production cost, and it itself was more than enough to warrant war to break out. Ryouta thought the 20 million ryou bounty on Hiroshi's head was slightly underrated considering the circumstances.

The rest of them looked at Hachi, realising the potential and possibilities brought. Perhaps they never realised this since they were so used to using Hiroshi's weapons. Nobody spoke and nobody moved for a while. It was Makoto who replied first.

" I see..." Makoto mused.

" So, I've told you the reason. Will you back down now?" Hachi replied.

Makoto didn't need any time to ponder upon his decision. All of a sudden, he untied his forehead protector, and tossed it aside, discarding it as if he suddenly decided to discard his pride along with it. The rest of his friends looked in shock, wondering what was up. Makoto slowly opened his eyes, the distorted, yellow-red eyes glared at Hachi with such ferocity that could kill.

" Do you know why I discarded my forehead protector, Hachi?" Makoto asked, his voice seething with anger. " This is because there will be no honour in this fight, no mercy. I will kill you today with as much respect as I would have of an animal, because you are nothing less than a dog, you mongrel. Say your prayers, Hachi, for today is the day you will rue the day you made that choice to leave the Sand."

" Makoto...?" Hibiki mused.

" I have held back far more than enough, Hachi. This ends now," Makoto replied.

" ...You have to be joking. You know you can do shit to me, because I can neutralise..."

Makoto didn't even wait for him to finish his sentence. His hand shot upwards. He didn't form any seals at all, yet a powerful jet of wind shot out from his hand. Cut wounds suddenly appeared out of nowhere on his arm, but Makoto could care less. The jet of wind hit one of Hachi's puppets, shattering it to bits.

Perhaps shattering it to bits was an understatement. It was ripped into pieces so fine the largest pieces was a splinter as long as two centimetres.

" What?" Hachi gasped.

" ...I've had it with holding back, Hachi. You warrant no more mercy from me. This is where we cut our ties, and this is where you will die like the miserable monkey you really are," Makoto replied. " Don't you even dare speak to me. I'm going to rip out your heart, Hachi, just as Suzumi promised. The rest of you, go. Hiroshi isn't far ahead, and Ryouta's capabilities should be more than efficient to track them down without my help."

" Wait, Makoto..." Hibiki started.

" Hibiki, before anything, I want to apologise for everything..." Makoto replied.

" What?! What kind of bullshit are you..."

" I know you hate me, and you will forever hate me for my choice. But I wish to tell you that I am sorry. I'm sorry for betraying your trust all those years ago. I'm sorry that I thought my pride was more important than your friendship and your forgiveness. Perhaps you will never forgive me, and I think I deserve your hate, and I will not blame you," Makoto answered. " I just wanted to say that I am sorry. If you can not find that part in your heart to forgive me, I shall accept it. I just wanted you to know I'm sorry for everything I have ever done."

" You were my friend above everything else, and to disregard it like it was nothing was nothing but lowly for me. I am a man of pride, but if pride requires me to disregard a great person such as yourself, I don't think I need it," Makoto replied. " I'm going to kill this son of a bitch. Any comments?"

Hibiki looked at Makoto's back, as if he had just been hit by lightning. It took him a while to understand what he was saying. Hibiki gave a sigh, as if it was a sigh of relief, before looking at Makoto.

" ...I'm been waiting for a heck of a long time for you to admit that. I am grateful, and I forgive you," Hibiki replied. " Fuck him up real good!"

" Will do," Makoto replied. " Now go. Hiroshi is waiting. Hachi will die today, regardless of what happens, I can promise as much!"

Ryouta and the rest of them charged forward, regardless of Hachi's presence in front of them. Hachi leaped down from the branch he was standing on, his puppets following closely. However, something swept past him, knocking him and his puppets aside. Makoto just executed a wind jutsu in his direction, forcing him to lose his balance. Hachi landed on the ground some distance away, looking very much displeased.

" What the hell have you been up to? I couldn't neutralise that jutsu just now. Since when were you able to counter my neutralising jutsu?" Hachi scowled.

" Don't think so highly of yourself, prick," Makoto snarled.

Hachi considered his options now. It was obvious he would have to take care of Makoto first before he could continue on. He had no idea what Makoto just pulled, but he was pretty certain that Makoto just fired a wind jutsu twice. However, despite doing the correct procedures, Hachi could not prevent it from hitting its targets.

There was an oddity however. Makoto's hands were bleeding from using that jutsu. Hachi figured whatever he was using the bypass his neutralising jutsu was causing Makoto harm. If this was going to be a battle of attrition, Hachi will obviously emerge as the winner. Hachi merely glared back at Makoto, who looked at him with pure hatred in his eyes.

Hachi flicked his fingers, and his puppets sprang into action. Two of them shot forward, bringing up what looked like barrels for arms. Makoto dropped his body, before doing a back flip to avoid the powerful chakra blast that was emitted from the barrels. He rolled to the side as the puppets started to fire repeatedly.

Makoto didn't bother attacking now. He was apparently more interested in running away from Hachi. Hachi sent his other two puppets to attack, firing kunais from a distance. Makoto slipped behind a few trees to hide himself from the rain of kunais, moving occasionally to not get hit by the chakra blasts the two initial puppets were firing. The chakra blasts could easily blast through a tree trunk, so Makoto had no doubt that it would as easily blast through him.

Makoto slipped behind, only to feel something right behind him. Relying on mere instinct, he leaped upwards, only to avoid a few wires from cutting him as they shot out of nowhere. Hachi felt that he had caught him, since Makoto had left himself vulnerable by launching himself up into the air. All puppets aimed their weapons at him, and a whole slew of kunais, along with a few chakra blasts flew towards his direction.

Still, that didn't explain how all the attacks missed Makoto by a mere fraction o a millimetre, flying past him without any effort, not even leaving a scratch on his body as Makoto landed on the ground.

No, it wasn't that. Makoto seemed to sport more wounds on his body, several nicks here and there all over his body. He had just used his 'technique' once more, and it was taking a toll on his body. Hachi merely smiled, knowing that even if he used that 'technique' to avoid his attacks, he would still wind up worse off than before.

" Don't push your luck Makoto!" Hachi exclaimed loudly.

Two of his puppets appeared right in front of Makoto, large blades sticking out of its body, ready to shred Makoto to pieces. Just as the puppets were about to move, Makoto merely looked up at them, and they froze in their tracks.

" What?!" Hachi exclaimed in shock. _Did he just use genjutsu on a puppet?! This is unheard of..._

Makoto slammed his hands upon the two puppets, and they shattered just in the way the first one did. More blood poured out from Makoto's hands, but he didn't seem to mind. His eyes started to bleed at this point, looking as if he was crying blood out from his tear ducts. Makoto didn't care the least. He suddenly raised his hands, as if he was trying to grab something invisible, clenching his fingers slightly. Hachi suddenly felt his puppets stiffen in his hands, and he could see that Makoto's hands were directly aiming at his two remaining puppets.

Makoto merely clenched his fists tightly, and the puppets were reduced to pieces in an instant.

" …You…" Hachi snarled.

" If you think I'm the simple-minded Makoto you think you knew, you are greatly mistaken," Makoto replied. He raised his hand ever so slightly, and Hachi sensed danger, and instantly leaped away. Makoto merely muttered two words with utter malice. "…Vacuum Field…"

Something invisible wrapped itself around Hachi's hand. It was an odd sensation, as something gripped onto his right arm, squeezing it tightly. Hachi could see some distortion in the air around him, as if the air around him was vibrating in some sort of way. His eyes widened as he realised what it was, and tried to yank his hand free from whatever that was holding onto him.

" Too late! Vacuum Destruction!" Makoto exclaimed, clenching his fists all of a sudden.

It was as if Hachi's hand shattered in an instant. Something crushed his arm with an immeasurable force, shattering his bones and tearing apart his muscle like paper. Blood splattered all over the ground as Hachi took several steps backwards, his right arm hanging limp on his side.

" …You…" Hachi groaned, holding his damaged arm with his other hand.

" That's right. I admire our Kazekage, so it is to no surprise that I emulated his abilities. In terms of tactical combat ability, it's far better than his, but no doubt, highly flawed. I'll need to work on it. Regardless, you cannot touch me with this technique," Makoto replied, coughing slightly. Blood trickled out from the side of his mouth as he did so, and he spat a small glob of blood mixed with saliva to the side.

" …But…to create vacuum by itself is a bloodline ability!" Hachi exclaimed.

Makoto had not been using wind jutsus, but more specifically, a new element which was vacuum. Since it was in a totally different class altogether, it was obvious Hachi could not neutralise it. Makoto could create a vacuum within a given space, and by fluctuating the amount of pressure he applies, he could easily rip apart anything as long as he had managed to open up a space of vacuum on where he wanted. He had previously set up a space of vacuum where Hachi was at, which managed to catch his arm. Placing stress on it, he managed rip his arms apart.

" Hachi, you are but a short-sighted fool. Bloodline abilities make elemental combinations easier, but it does not restrict high class elemental combinations to us normal shinobi. After all, I am a wind jutsu expert whose innate elemental affinity is Earth," Makoto replied. " With a little help, I can always take my ninjutsu to the next level."

The vacuum element can be created by altering the air around himself. Using some lightning manipulation, he could charge up the surrounding earth particles. These ionic particles will react with the air in the space around him, forcing them apart, creating a vacuum space within an area of choice. This technique was no doubt chakra demanding, and using three elemental manipulation all at the same time while outputting it within his limited chakra coils was taking a toll on his body, damaging his body each time he used the ability since it placed too much stress on his arms.

Hachi flicked his fingers slightly, and something shot out from behind him. Due to the pain and blood loss, Makoto was unable to avoid three senbon needles from striking his hand. Makoto winced as it stung painfully, just as he felt some burning sensation run through his hand.

" Poison?" he mused, grabbing his hand in pain.

A sudden snap made him return his attention to Hachi. Hachi had now moved out of sight, yet there was a multitude of movement all around him. No doubt Hachi had managed to procure more puppets, and was trying to take the advantage of the terrain around him to attack Makoto.

" Prick, you think you can hide and get away with it?!" Makoto snarled.

The burning sensation kept running up his hand, slowly seeping through Makoto's arm. If left unattended, it might pose a serious threat to Makoto. Channelling his ability, he forcefully ejected his blood out from his veins. Copious amounts of blood splashed all over the ground, painting it crimson. Makoto started to go dizzy from the sudden act, but he somehow managed to expel the poison in his body, since his arm, besides being heavily wounded, was fine now.

" You can't last for too long now..." Hachi replied.

" ...Bah, merely a flash wound..." Makoto replied.

All of a sudden, something whipped up all around him. Coils of thick metal wires wrapped themselves around Makoto in an instant, and even before he could move himself, the wires had somehow managed to keep him into place. He was suddenly pulled backwards, slamming hard onto a tree. Makoto tried to pull himself free, but he was unable to budge. His injuries were making him weak.

Hachi dropped down in front of Makoto, confident that this time he would not pose a threat to him, and thus exposed himself willingly. Makoto tried to pull himself free when he saw Hachi in front of him, but his efforts were in vain, since the wires held him into place, unable to free himself from his bonds.

" It's pointless, Makoto. You'll shorten your life if you struggle too much now in your condition," Hachi answered nonchalantly. Makoto merely panted heavily as he calmed down, too tired and wounded to put up much of a fight anymore.

" …Why?" Makoto sighed.

" Hmm? What now?" Hachi asked.

" …Was all that revenge really worth it?" Makoto asked.

" …Perhaps…" Hachi answered. " Why would it matter to you anyway?"

" Because I had bet everything on it!" Makoto shouted loudly.

Without warning, the metal wires that held Makoto into place broke apart, the wires recoiling and snapping loudly all over the place. Hachi took a step back in surprise when he saw Makoto miraculously free himself from his bonds.

" Vacuum may have unlimited destructive power, but you forgot I excel best in the sharpness of the wind," Makoto replied. " My eyes can do far more than to only bleed and see. You, of all people, should know that well…"

Hachi tried to move, but the instant Makoto did so much as to look at him, his body froze up all of a sudden, as if he had suddenly been encased in ice. It was a high level genjutsu Makoto used in order to disable enemies while he went in for the kill. His eyes were stinging painfully now, as if someone had just poured acid on it, and even seeing things was difficult due to the bleeding that was caused by his eyes from looking at light too much. He had to finally close them, even though his target was so close.

Relying on instinct, he raised his hands with his eyes close, before saying " Rot in hell, you ungrateful son of a bitch!"

_Writer's note: No idea how explosive notes are made, but I like to entertain the idea that is is formed using the stated reason above._

_Also, in case you didn't realise it, Makoto didn't stop Hachi's puppets using genjutsu, but his vaccum technique. Hachi was just temporarily fooled to think it was him using genjutsu._

_As for the Vaccum element, it was just something I pulled out from my brain. Always wanted to upgrade Makoto's wind techniques somehow.  
_


	37. Chapter 36: Retribution

**Chapter 36: Retribution**

Makoto panted heavily after his had used his jutsu. His arm stung painfully after the attack, and he was pretty sure if he decided to use vacuum manipulation again, he would rip his arm to shreds. His eyes have been rendered useless now with the pain and the blood, so he had to rely on his ears to 'see'.

" ...Tch, I missed..." Makoto sighed in disappointment.

Hachi shifted his weight miraculously at the last moment. That must have taken most of his constitution and will-power to do that, since Makoto had executed his genjutsu with such potency and hatred, not to mention at such close proximity, even Makoto expected Hachi, despite his competence level, to stay rooted to the spot. This was unfortunately not the case though, and Hachi managed to avoid the attack.

Not completely though. Makoto had released a high speed blast which ripped through the top of Hachi's right hand side shoulder, puncturing his lungs slightly, having initially wanted to aim for his heart. Despite avoiding the killing blow, Hachi had been severely wounded, especially with a punctured lung, and he would soon meet his end, just like Makoto had promised him.

" Ugh...crap..." Hachi muttered, before stumbling backwards, falling towards the ground in a heap. Makoto dropped down as well, too tired and hurt to stand properly. He fell to his knees, using the remaining strength he had to try not to completely collapse, but soon enough his strength left him completely, and he too fell to the ground.

" ...I guess you win this time..." Hachi replied, coughing out blood slightly.

" ...As I said..." Makoto replied.

" ...So, what made you change your mind?" Hachi asked.

" I have never changed my mind, ever. I merely stuck to my principles. That was all..." Makoto answered.

" ...I don't..."

" Do not assume I do not know your reason why you left the Sand. Revenge, it was pure and simple," Makoto replied quickly. " The Rock-nins were guilty of Aya's death, no matter how much they could deny it. There was no need for proof, all one needed was to look in their faces to know that they were guilty. They just merely decided to hunt down a small group of shinobis in training just for the kicks, to see how far they might be able to push us."

" Vengeance could not be brought easily, justice not so swift. If we were to escalate the struggles, war might have broken out. As much as you must have hated our Kazekage for making that decision to not pursue the matter with the Stone country, you must have been shattered to know that Aya's death will never find justice. I know, for I felt the same. But a solution came to mind, one so simple only a simple-minded fool like you could figure it out."

" Become a missing-nin. If a shinobi affiliated to the Sand country was to extract revenge by going off to kill Rock-nins, war will ensue. Yet, if he was a missing-nin, he was nothing but a rogue. His actions will not reflect his actions of his own village, since they obviously want him dead anyway. For you to become a missing-nin was the only way you could freely kill Rock-nins without having our village persecuted," Makoto replied, finishing.

" ...You think too much..." Hachi mused.

" But revenge can only go so far. If you are to take Hiroshi to distribute his weapons, it will only cause war and strife, something we have fought and bleed for so desperately for the last few years. If this is your extent of your revenge, to even bring the Leaf into this petty dispute, then your revenge ends here, for I shall never allow it!" Makoto exclaimed.

" ...The hell are you defending the Leafs for?" Hachi asked.

" Because they are our allies. I'll sooner drown myself than betray their trust," Makoto replied sternly. " No, perhaps my motivation is so much more simpler. Hiroshi is a good friend of mine, and he risks his life to protect his friends. As someone of the same stature, it is only befitting that I do the same..." Makoto replied.

Both of them didn't reply for a while. In fact, Makoto thought it was amazing that Hachi could last this long. After puncturing his lung and bleeding out of his chest, he should have been dead by now. Still, he was still alive, listening to Makoto like some kid listening to his parent. Makoto could still hear him breathing ever so slightly.

" ...Makoto...?" Hachi replied.

" What is it?"

" ...Thanks...you were always a good friend..." Hachi replied, before falling silent.

Makoto wasn't sure what to do. He merely laid on the ground, before starting to cry, blood flowing out from his eyes once more.

-

" How close are we?" Suzumi asked.

" Close enough. We are pretty much gaining on them. Guess they cannot really outrun us while carrying excess luggage," Ryouta answered. " Give or take, about three minutes."

" Alright, we are on their tail. Let's crush these idiots!" Sora replied, slamming her fists together. " But you know, do you think Makoto will be alright? With Hachi, I mean..."

" Have faith, Sora," Hibiki replied.

" Hey, if someone in this group was to object, you should be the first one to do it," Sora rebutted.

" Maybe, but perhaps I'm glad Makoto has come to terms with whatever it was with Hachi. With that, I can confidently say that Makoto can deal with it now, so no worries about it," Hibiki replied. Sora couldn't help but notice that he was apparently smiling.

" Well, glad you are..."

" Stop!" Ryouta exclaimed all of a sudden.

The entire team came to a complete stop. Something could be heard whirling in the air. Ryouta twisted his body all of a sudden, just as several kunais shot past his body, grazing him slightly. Hibiki and Sora, who were behind him, knocked the weapons out of the way with the fists.

" Damn, a hindrance has appeared," Ryouta replied, gritting his teeth.

Three shinobis stood in front of them, obviously with the full intention of baring their path. Ryouta and the rest of them braced themselves for combat. None of them made a move, since it was obvious the three of them wanted to stall for time, so there was no point in recklessly charging in towards the enemy.

" Alright, you little pricks, I'll beat the shit out of you single-handedly. Bring it on, dipshits!" Sora exclaimed, pointing her finger aggressively towards them.

" Oi, you obviously can't beat them alone," Hibiki replied, patting her on the shoulder.

" You lousy piece of shit, trying to steal my prey, are you?" Sora exclaimed.

" Can you stop acting like a piece of shit for once, damn it!" Hibiki snapped back, before turning to Ryouta. " Hey, Ryouta, take Suzumi and go on ahead. Sora and I will even the odds here by taking care of one more of them. According to Makoto, there should be two more of them right ahead, so you will need to hold them off while Suzumi gets Hiroshi back. I can count on you to bring back that idiot, can I not?"

" Hibiki..." Suzumi mused.

" Don't worry, we can take care of ourselves. You just need to get Hiroshi back, and return in one piece. I'll be sure to teach them what it costs to spoil your first date," Hibiki replied. " After all, I have a score to settle. I'm generally a sexist bastard, so I'll be very vexed by being humiliated by some dumb chick....Ain't that right, red-haired chick?"

The kunoichi who he had faced off previously during their mission glared at him, almost looking pleased that she was able to face off with him. " No doubt...I shall never be fully sated until I tear your heart out from where it beats," she replied.

" Hey, stick to the plan, Yuria. We need to stall them, not pick personal fights," Yuki replied, scowling slightly. Shin, the third on in the group, didn't say anything, but merely looked at Sora, who was looking at Shin gleefully.

" I could care less about it. He's mine, and mine alone," Yuria replied.

" Alright, I'm going off now. Ryouta, when I attack, get past them!" Sora replied, before flipping a few hand seals.

" Heh, I know you are good, but you can't possibly hold off two of us at once," Yuki replied.

" Sound Distortion Clone!" Sora shouted, not before emitting a massive burst of chakra, before disappearing.

She reappeared all of a sudden, but there was a main difference. Two figures of Sora shot up towards Yuki and Shin, who looked back in surprise. Both Soras gave loud yells, just before punching their fists forward, sending a shockwave towards each target. Yuki and Shin disappeared within the cloud of dust and dirt Sora kicked up with the attack.

Almost simultaneously, Hibiki shot towards Yuria in an instant, and she matched his actions as she leaped at him. Hibiki changed his charge in the middle, rushing off towards the left, wanting to give the rest of them some room while he dealt with Yuria alone. Yuria didn't mind, since Hibiki was her prime target alone, and she followed along, willing to play his little game.

" Go!" Sora yelled, before both her figures seem to distort and merge back into one body.

Ryouta and Suzumi wasted no time in rushing off towards where Hiroshi was currently being taken.

" Go get him back!" Sora shouted.

Suzumi turned towards Sora, as she grinned fiercely back at her. Suzumi gave her a warm smile as a thank you, and quickly followed in Ryouta's footsteps as he rushed towards the escaping team. Sora merely chuckled, before returning her attention towards her current enemies.

" Well, well, well...looks like I have been deprived of my entertainment for the day, but I guess you two will suffice," Sora replied. " Come on, get up! I know that blast could not have gotten you that badly. If it did, then you won't be even worth being served to me as appetisers."

On the ground below, two figures emerged. Yuki got up, rubbing the dust off her chin, while Shin merely got up and looked in a brooding manner towards Sora, who looked down on them from the branch she was standing upon with glee.

" Huh, you were always the one to pick fights, weren't you? Fine, we can take you on," Yuki replied.

-

Hibiki came to a complete stop, and Yuria followed suit as well. Hibiki managed to end up in the midst of a forest, and a large number of trees stood within his way. Hibiki slipped out the spear that he always kept on his back and raised it towards Yuria, who merely glared back angrily at him.

" Hey, try not to keep that face too much. Having multiple periods is bad for your health, intentionally or not," Hibiki answered. " So, your name is Yuria, huh? Never got to introduced ourselves previously, but I guess this settles it, so we can fight evenly now...but you know, it's much too cute of a name for a violent girl like you."

" So, is cracking jokes all you are capable off in the face of death?" Yuria asked.

" Death? I think there is some form of misinterpretation here. I will not be dying here," Hibiki replied. " Besides, I'm tired of talking. Shall we make our formal introductions before we start? Gendou Hibiki, the pleasure is all mine..."

Yuria didn't reply, but merely glared angrily at Hibiki. " Well, fine with me anyway..." Hibiki mused.

Without waiting, Yuria bounded towards him with the same beast-like agility towards Hibiki. It took a lot of effort on his part to channel enough chakra towards his feet to propel himself away from Yuria, dodging towards the side. Yuria merely bounded across the area, circling around him. Hibiki tossed his spear momentarily into the air, before forming a few hand seals of his own.

" Very well, if you insist. There is no need for me to hold back," Hibiki replied. " Windwalk Technique: Activate!"

A surge of wind element started to surround Hibiki's body, mostly towards his legs. Hibiki caught his spear, before holding it in both hands as he pointed the edge towards Yuria. His body was continuously surging with wind, as if he was a vortex collecting the particles of air around himself. His figure started to distort slightly as the air around him spun around vigorously.

" Interesting technique...I see no reason why you didn't use it the last time," Yuria replied.

" Because there was no reason to," Hibiki answered.

Yuria immediately charged at him, her hand outstretched, ready to catch him in her grasp. Hibiki was well aware of her capabilities, and moved back. Yuria didn't let up, and continued to charge towards Hibiki. Hibiki disappeared just as Yuria was about to lay her hands on him, only to appear right behind her. She spun around in anticipation, but Hibiki didn't attack. She looked at him curiously, wondering what he was up to.

She charged at him once again, but all Hibiki did in reply was to back away, or to avoid her attacks. She leaped in quickly on several occasions, but Hibiki only managed to get himself out of her reach by somehow moving at an insane speed, as if he had executed a Body Flicker technique on the spot. Yuria had no doubt that Hibiki was using his windwalk technique to aid his movements. What was irritating her was the fact that he was not attacking.

Once again, just as she was about to grab him, he suddenly disappeared, only to appear right behind her once more. Yuria was at her limit, getting more and more impatient with each passing moment.

" Why you...fight me already!" she howled, before leaping at Hibiki once more, only to expect him to disappear once more.

Except he did not.

Hibiki hopped back a couple of feet, getting out of Yuria's reach, before exerting his left leg forward, propelling him to the front. Yuria realised her mistake, and tried to avoid the attack, but it was to no avail. Hibiki had timed his attack properly, even making sure her footing was just in the right position to hinder her ability to avoid the attack as much as possible.

Yuria managed to twist her body slightly, so the spear stabbed her in the shoulder. Blood splattered out from her wound, and some of it managed to hit Hibiki in the face. Ignoring the mess, he kicked Yuria on her chest, sending her reeling backwards as he yanked the spear out from her shoulder as she went staggering backwards.

_Shit, another attack..._Yuria thought.

The spear come in once again, aimed right towards her head. Yuria braced herself, before grabbing the spear just before it managed to hit her head. With her insane strength, she managed to bring the spear to an instant halt, as she did before, but Hibiki had other plans.

Just as Yuria caught his spear, he released it without hesitation. He knew that with her capabilities, she could easily stop him in his tracks by holding his weapon with brute force, but the spear has served its purpose.

With one of her hands occupied, Hibiki drew his hand back, ready to launch a punch at her. Yuria tried to retaliate, but Hibiki's attack came faster, mainly due to the fact the wound on her shoulder was slowing her down. The punch connected, and Yuria almost felt her jaw dislocate as his fist made contact with her cheeks. She could feel warm blood splatter out from her mouth as she was hit with a powerful force, Hibiki not holding back with his attack, being a girl notwithstanding.

Slightly disorientated, Hibiki pushed against her, pushing her back as far as he could go. Yuria raised her hand in an instant, grabbing his neck, clamping down like a vice, hoping to tear out his throat in the process, but she gave a cry of pain and released him as he managed to slam her body against one of the trees. Hibiki socked her hard in the gut, and Yuria could see the stars spinning around her head.

Hibiki raised his hand for another blow, but this time Yuria managed to catch his fists in time. Seeing her recovering quickly, Hibiki retreated, knowing how dangerous her hands could be with close contact. He broke away from her immediately, skidding towards his spear and picking it up quickly. Yuria merely glared at him with a ferocity that could kill, her eyes slightly bloodshot and furious. Hibiki merely braced himself, holding his weapon up towards her as she took several small steps towards him, rubbing the blood off her chin.

Yuria could merely chuckle at her carelessness, having fallen into Hibiki's game. His initial actions to continuously dodge her attacks was just to irritate her. When her concentration was compromised, he moved in for the kill. Not only that, he took the risk of disarming himself, and she found out that he was a pretty competent taijutsu combatant as well.

" Good, good...I would not expect less..." Yuria replied, cracking up in laughter.

" Sheesh, you remind me of someone I know," Hibiki groaned in displeasure.

From whatever Ryouta and Sora told him, Yuria's combat ability was some form of martial arts where she strengthened her arms to the point where she can easily stop any weapons with her bare hands. If so, Hibiki could easily take advantage of her ability to occupy her hands by granting her the chance to catch his spear, while she moved in for the kill. Still, Yuria's ability to recover was abnormally fast. Despite him hitting as hard as he could, she could recover and retaliate even with the circumstances against her.

" Well, since you are going all out, I may as well do the same. If not, it would be rude, no?" Yuria replied.

" I was hoping you would be rude than wanting me dead," Hibiki replied.

Yuria suddenly charged at him. Hibiki immediately retreated, taking a few steps backwards, but this time Yuria seemed more than determined to catch him, and ran up to him at speeds he didn't think it was possible. Hibiki used his Windwalk skill to jump aside to avoid her, but surprisingly Yuria was able to match his speed, appearing right before him, her hand aiming for his neck.

" What?!" Hibiki gasped.

The hand went for this throat, and before her knew it, she gripped him hard like a vice. Hibiki struggled furiously, his legs trashing about as he did his best to pry her hands open, but it was to no avail. His spear clattered on the ground without making a sound. Her grip almost impossible to release, and he was slowly running out of breath.

" ...Shit..." Hibiki gasped. _How is it possible for her to have so much strength?!_

" Huh? I can't hear you...speak louder..." Yuria replied cockily.

" ...Crap...let me go..." Hibiki gasped.

" Fine, I shall abide by your demands!" Yuria exclaimed, almost in an excited manner. All of a sudden, Hibiki found himself being launched in the air, flying backwards. His body hit the ground a few seconds later painfully, and he groaned as he tried to pick himself up.

No doubt, Yuria was using her beast-like strength to best him once more. He had experienced it before during his previous fight. He got to his feet, but he stumbled slightly, almost losing his balance.

" What's this?! Fight! Fight me!" Yuria exclaimed gleefully, like a hunter taunting her prey.

Yuria once again charged towards his position. Hibiki did his best to avoid the attack, dashing forward, before turning his body at the last moment before they collided into one another. Yuria skidded towards a halt, only to see Hibiki heading towards his weapon.

Closing the gap in an instant, she caught hold of him just before he managed to grab his spear. Hibiki cried out in pain as he felt hands grab hold of his head and his left arm, before something hit him on his back, sending him crashing on the ground, Yuria pinning him to the ground.

" Heh, I can easily disable your weapons, so what makes you think that retrieving your spear will do you any good?" Yuria asked. She slammed her knee onto his hand, which she pulled towards his back, holding him down while pressing his face hard on the ground. Hibiki's eyes widened in shock as she pulled out a kunai from his weapon holster. " Your Windwalk technique has failed to impress me. You can go to hell now..."

Yuria slammed her hand down onto Hibiki, only to hit something remotely solid.

" What?! This is..."

At the point where the kunai was about to strike his head, there was a massive swirl of wind at the kunai's tip. Hibiki managed to channel his Windwalk technique towards his face, the wind acting as a barrier. With precise chakra control, he could easily make small, violent vortexes to run around his body, which was more than enough force to repel projectile weapons. However, chakra control wasn't his forte, and he was using all of his concentration and effort to push back the kunai.

Yuria felt an abnormality in the chakra flow on Hibiki's body, but not before he seemingly exploded. He didn't exactly blow up, but the wind elements surrounding his body expelled itself from his body, throwing her of his back. Yuria landed on her bottom a few feet away, and Hibiki stole this chance to get up and retrieve his weapon.

" Not bad....so your technique can be used defensively, besides being supplementary to your combat skills," Yuria replied, brushing off the dust on her body as Hibiki raised his spear at her once more. " Unfortunately, in a fight to the death, defensive skills can get you so far. If you cannot go on the offense, you will go nowhere..."

Hibiki knew she was right. His Windwalk technique was basically supplementary jutsu where he merely coats himself with the wind element all over his body. This wind element can act as a defensive barrier, or allow him to propel himself at greater speeds while giving him an edge in maneuverability despite moving at speeds in which his body was unused to. Still, all of this was apparently useless in front of a shinobi like Yuria.

" But, the Windwalk technique has one killer move..." Hibiki corrected her.

" Very well, use it!" Yuria exclaimed.

" You don't have to tell me!" Hibiki exclaimed.

Using elemental manipulation, Hibiki sharpened his tip of his spear with the wind element, and it started to brim with energy and potency. The air around him started to swirl violently as it collected around his body, like a maelstrom. He stared at his target, who was over 10 feet away, grinning at him, as if daring him to come at her.

_Time to pull out all the stops..._Hibiki thought. " Dance of the Swallows!" Hibiki replied, bracing himself.

" You are so slow! I'm coming at you!" Yuria howled, before dashing at him.

_Perfect!_ Hibiki thought. " First Waltz!"

Hibiki disappeared in front of Yuria's eyes, almost as if he had teleported himself away, not before Yuria felt something pressing down hard on her body. " What?...Is this...wind...?" Yuria mused.

Hibiki's killer technique, the Dance of the Swallows, was a multistep technique. Using the Windwalk ability to his advantage, he waits until the enemy comes within his range, before expelling the jutsu surrounding his body in such a way that the wind presses downwards, thus slowing down the enemy as if gravity has somehow increased, just as he moves away in a method similar to a Body Flicker technique. With the enemy slowed down by the 'First Waltz', Hibiki can finish off the enemy with the 'Second Waltz', which was nothing more than an accelerated piercing strike towards the enemies chest. Having full control of the wind in the surrounding area, he can move easily while slowing down the enemy with his jutsu.

" Second Waltz!" Hibiki cried, before stabbing Yuria with his spear, the tip running straight towards her heart.

It came to his surprise when Yuria merely caught the shaft of his spear effortlessly, halting his advance.

" No way..." Hibiki gasped, unable to believe his eyes. " How can you still move with the wind pressure?!"

" Loser, from your stance, I could easily see that your technique relies on the enemy attacking you first to give you an advantage. If the enemy realises it, then she can prepare herself to accept it and intercept! Pathetic, even your killer techniques are defensive!" Yuria howled. " Let me show you how a technique should be executed!"

Without realising it, Hibiki suddenly lost his grip on his spear as it was yanked free from his grasp, and before he knew it, Yuria stabbed the spear in his gut within two seconds, making him violently cough out blood.

_Fucking...impossible..._Hibiki thought to himself in dismay, before his vision started to fade away.


	38. Chapter 37: Imperfection

**Chapter 37: Imperfection**

" Huh? What's wrong Ryouta?" Suzumi asked, seeing him stop all of a sudden.

Ryouta merely looked at his surroundings, not even bothering to reply Suzumi's question. She looked worriedly at him, as if he had somehow caught on something she had not realized as of yet. He frowned slightly, before breaking into a smile.

" Suzumi…" he replied.

" Yes?" Suzumi asked.

" Here's the plan: they had apparently broken off . Apparently one of their comrades have been waiting here. After handing Hiroshi to them, they are waiting around this area, hoping we might just go after Hiroshi while they spring up on our backs. That's not going to happen," Ryouta replied, forming several seals, before setting his hands alight with fire. " Go. Whoever has Hiroshi is probably waiting a couple of hundred meters onwards. I'll deal with these punks here who think they can pull a fast one on us."

Suzumi looked around, unable to even sense the presence of anything else other than Ryouta and herself. Ryouta had realized that this was a trap, and was going to stall them here.

" But…" Suzumi replied.

" Don't worry, I can deal with these idiots. Go get Hiroshi, okay?" Ryouta replied.

Suzumi merely looked at him, before nodding her head. Without waiting any further, she sprang off, while Ryouta waited patiently for her to leave. When she was obviously out of view, he returned his attention to the problem at hand.

" Alright, come on out. I know you are there, so there is really no point in hiding from me," Ryouta replied.

He received no answer in return. Raising his hand, he pointed to an area in front of him, before snapping his fingers. A thin flame shot out from his fingertips, hitting the base of a tree, setting it alight with fire. Two figures immediately leaped out from behind the tree, skidded to a halt several meters away from the flaming trunk.

" Hmph, you two, huh? Ishikawa and Ryoku, am I right?" Ryouta asked.

" Heh, looks like we got stuck with the leader of the group," Ishikawa replied. " So, what now?"

" Nothing, you little pricks. Stand still while I reduce you entirely to cinders…" Ryouta replied, snarling menacingly.

-

Sora's palm slammed against the ground, missing Yuki as she leaped backwards. She dropped her body all of a sudden as Shin came up from behind her, swinging his arm around. The second she lowered her body, Shin's legs came sweeping in as he swung his leg at her face.

Sora launched herself using her hands only into the air, moving so fast it was as if she suddenly flew up all of a sudden. Spinning her body around, she managed to catch the top branch on one of the trees, and she promptly flung herself onto the branch, looking down at Shin and Yuki.

" Damn, she's fast. We can't even land a hit even if we worked together," Yuki replied, frowning.

" Land a hit?! Don't make me laugh," Sora declared proudly. " You can consider yourself lucky if you manage to sting my fingers slightly when I pulverize the both of you to bits."

" Hmph, I'll acknowledge you are good, but we will deal with you properly here," Yuki replied. Shin didn't say anything, but merely looked at Sora while she glanced back at him. She didn't really noticed it before, but somehow Shin was a very quiet person. She could hardly recall whether if he did say anything before, or how his voice sounded like. " Shin, let's do it!"

Upon giving the signal, Shin instantly leaped up towards the branch Sora was standing upon. Sora knew that both Yuki and Shin were proficient taijutsu users, but in terms of speed, skill and raw power, Sora was several classes above them. Shin threw out a strike, and Sora parried the blow, almost too easily. Coming in with a frontal attack against Sora was plain suicide, and Sora knew she could finish Shin in one crippling blow.

But her instincts tell her otherwise. Her parry was unusual, as in that Shin seemed to have attacked in such a way, it was as if he wanted her to parry his strike. Sora could easily draw her free hand back and slam her palm on his chest while powering her sonic capabilities, destroying his internal organs as easily as she would crush a paper cup in her hands.

Regardless of her superior advantage, Sora retracted her hands immediately and jumped back. She didn't only jump backwards, but continued to back away, as if to give herself some breathing space.

" Tch, she's slick…the hell did she know that was coming?" Yuki groaned.

Sora's hearted was racing furiously. _What in the world just happened? I was…frightened? By this lowly insect?!_ Sora thought, glaring at Shin.

She quickly analysed the situation. She retreated all of a sudden after parrying a simple trust from Shin. There was absolutely no reason to back away from him. Perhaps it was Yuki urging him on that made her cautious.

" No…" she muttered, correcting herself. It was not that she was cautious.

She backed away because she was previously staring at her imminent death. If she had struck Shin where he stood previously, she would have been dead before she knew it. The question she had to answer now was why this was so.

---

" _Hmph, how was that?" Hibiki asked proudly._

_Makoto and Suzumi didn't reply for a while. Hibiki had just executed his newly learned move, and Suzumi and Makoto were there at the training grounds to watch him perform. He had just showed them how he would carry out his 'Dance of the Swallows' technique, and he was hoping to get some reaction, and in Makoto's case, some feedback. Hibiki was pretty smug of himself at the moment. _Perfectly executed, if I must say…_he thought to himself._

" _Wow, Hibiki, that was a spectacular display of skill! I'm impressed!" Suzumi replied, beaming at him as she clapped her hand._

" …_I'm appalled. You call this a technique?!" Makoto demanded, sounding slightly angry. Both Suzumi and Hibiki could not believe what they were hearing at the moment. " A pathetic excuse for a shinobi to learn such a piece of crap…"_

_Hibiki walked up to him, his face showing signs that he was clearly displeased with what Makoto just said. " Now, look here, it's not perfect, I know, but to learn it this much in such a short period of time is an impressive feat in itself, you know…" Hibiki retorted back._

" _If there was anyone who should understand the shinobi arts the best, I thought you might be the one, but it looks like I was mistaken," Makoto answered._

" _Huh…?" Hibiki replied, sounding confused._

" _The technique you just executed, 'Dance of the Swallows', is a complex maneuver which requires a set amount of chakra control and finesse, plus great skill in direct and close combat, not to mention to be one who has mastered the Windwalk technique," Makoto replied. " I'm angry at the fact that you would water down this technique to such a degree…"_

" _What do you mean, Makoto?" Suzumi asked._

" _Look, maybe you didn't notice it, but I did," Makoto replied. " The Dance of the Swallows is a multi step killing technique, where one uses specific moves to finish off the enemy. There are a total of 5 'waltzes', each a step to kill the target. It is hardly befitting for a chunnin to learn all five, but Hibiki bypassed the first step by making some alterations."_

" _Alterations?" Suzumi asked._

" _The 'First Waltz' requires some complex footwork to execute, and is by far one of the more difficult parts of the entire technique," Makoto replied. " It's probably not possible for Hibiki to master that yet, so he did a deviation in the technique…where he expelled the Windwalk technique and set it around his target to slow him or her down while he executes the second technique."_

" …_So what? It's just a little improvisation," Hibiki replied._

" …_Urm, I hate to break your bubble, but I think I understand what Makoto is trying to say. If you use that kind of variation, to successfully use this variation of the Dance, it fully relies on the enemy attacking first," Suzumi answered. " Don't you see, it's a defensive technique. Altering a killing technique to be used defensively makes it pointless, about as pointless as not carrying a kunai in a mission just because it's slightly heavy."_

" _Aw shit, not you too…" Hibiki replied. _

_---  
_

The pain was making him delirious. Holding the side of his body with his hand, he applied pressure to the wound, which was bleeding profoundly. Yuria had struck with the intention to miss, even missing all his vital organs, just to cause Hibiki more pain and suffering. Hibiki didn't blame her for it, and besides, he was grateful that he was still alive.

Hibiki panted heavily, blood trickling out from the corner of his mouth. He looked down at the wound that he had sustained. It was a deep stab wound, but thankfully, it was not life-threatening, as long as he can stop the bleeding quickly. The lower half of his attire was being painted crimson as he continued to bleed out as he got up.

" Hahaha, not bad, not bad at all…to even stand with such…"

Yuria didn't manage to finish her sentence. Hibiki quickly ripped his shirt apart, tossing and discarding it aside, leaving him standing half-naked. He pulled out a roll from his pack, before bandaging himself by wrapping it around his body. Once he was done, he tossed the roll aside, rubbing the blood off his mouth.

" …Was that…duct tape?" Yuria asked.

" Hell yeah…" Hibiki answered.

" …Why are you…?"

" It fits nicely in my pack, don't ask why, bitch…" Hibiki snapped back. " …Damn it, to be proven wrong of all times…"

" What are you mumbling about?" Yuria asked.

" Nothing to concern yourself over," Hibiki replied, panting heavily, trying to ease the pain in his gut. " Come on now, we aren't finish, not by my standards…"

Yuria merely grunted as she raised his own spear right at him. " It seems like you wish to die quickly. That will not come true, for I shall make you suffer painfully," Yuria replied.

Hibiki considered his options. Yuria was now armed with his spear, and he was practically defenseless against her, not to mention injured as well. The pain was making feel dizzy, and it did not help in this case, since he needed every ounce of focus to fight Yuria. The duct tape was working well in keeping him from bleeding out, but he still lost some amount of blood. If Yuria does so much as to scratch him one more time, he was quite sure he would be a dead man the next round.

Yuria charged at him, thrusting the spear with deadly accuracy towards his body. He shifted his body aside, the spear barely missing his chest by inches. As expected, Yuria fought not to kill, but to slowly kill him, thus she was not aiming for his vital points. This meant that she was aiming for other parts, mainly towards the side of his body. Knowing this, Hibiki figured that he could easily avoid it if he paid enough attention.

Yuria pulled her arms back for another thrust, but Hibiki backed up immediately. He was using all the strength he had left in his legs to allow himself to stay out of Yuria's reach. Activating his Windwalk technique again is impossible, since it was strenuous for his body, especially in his condition. Hibiki figured that using the Windwalk technique depletes about 40% of his chakra reserves, which is enormous for a supplementary technique. On the plus side, he can maintain the jutsu for a long period of time, since the chakra requirements for maintaining his jutsu is low. Assuming the first Windwalk activation requires 40%, with the remaining 60%, he can keep the technique activated for the next 30 minutes or more.

However, he had only half his chakra remaining, which meant he could activate his technique once more. It was utterly pointless to activate it now to just avoid Yuria, because when he runs out of chakra, he will not be able to escape from her clutches.

Which meant he had only one option left.

" You aren't fighting back! How dare you talk big when you can't even fight back?!" Yuria shouted at him.

In an instant, faster than her eye could track, Hibiki launched himself so quickly towards Yuria that she could not even react. The blow to her face was instantaneous, and it knocked her aside, sending her flying backwards. Hibiki retrieved his spear as Yuria released her grip upon it when she was hit.

" …What?" she gasped. " How the hell did you move so fast?!"

" Oh, nothing to it. Although I'd like you to keep this a secret, cos there is this particular idiot of a girl who will not be pleased to know I mastered it better than she did," Hibiki replied. " …Well, let's keep my promise, shall we?...3rd Gate: Open!"

Yuria was suddenly assaulted by a massive flow of energy, and she felt the power rush against her like a raging torrent. The chakra that poured out from Hibiki was enormous, and not only that, it reeked with hostility. He activated his Windwalk technique once more, and once again he was shrouded in a layer of wind, this time swirling around him like a hurricane.

" Scared yet!?" Hibiki asked.

" You think opening the Gates puts you on an even standing with me?! Try me, punk!" Yuria shouted vehemently at him.

" …As you wish…" Hibiki replied, before raising his spear. " Dance of the Swallows!"

This time, Hibiki didn't wait for Yuria to strike. His body suddenly split into multiple copies, each body faded slightly as if each of the bodies were ethereal. Yuria tried to figure out which body was the real one, but Hibiki attacked first before Yuria could make up her mind. This attack was way different compared to the previous Dance of the Swallows he had executed earlier.

" First Waltz!"

Something rushed towards her, and struck her chest hard with blunt force. It felt as if someone had run up to her at top speed and crashed into her body without so much as flinching. Yuria gritted her teeth, trying to withstand the pain assaulting her body to focus on Hibiki's follow-up attack.

" Second Waltz!"

_I can do this…_Yuria thought. This was the main initial step Hibiki failed to execute for whatever the reason previously because he decided to fight defensively. The First Waltz was a quick movement where Hibiki moved quickly all over the place, creating after-images of his body while firing wind jutsus from multiple directions, hitting her all at once. Due to the speed he was traveling, he was unable to use any wind jutsus that were potentially deadly, but the First Waltz was merely a step to usher in the second part of the attack.

The Second Waltz.

Once disorientated from the First Waltz, Hibiki would execute his second move, where he would dash at the enemy as fast as he could and stab them with a force powerful enough to puncture the hardest of metals. Yuria knew this was a win for her. Even with the Gates activated, she was adept at catching weapons. No matter how fast he would be going, she knew it would be a pin-point, direct frontal attack. She knew were the attack was coming from, which made it so much easier to counter.

All of Hibiki's bodies merged back into one, and the singular body rushed towards Yuria, throwing all of his might with his thrust. Yuria merely braced herself, launching her hands outwards just as the spear came within reach.

All she managed to catch was thin air.

" …Looks like it is my win…" Hibiki replied, grinning.

He had managed to stab her on her shoulder, and the spear's edge was painfully embedded in Yuria's shoulder. Blood started to run down her body as she winced in pain, the feeling of metal in her shoulder foreign to her. Hibiki maliciously twisted the spear in her shoulder, but surprisingly, Yuria didn't cry out in pain.

" Tough chick…" Hibiki chuckled, before kicking her in the gut, sending her backwards as the spear came out of her shoulder. She went crashing to the ground. Hibiki quickly walked over towards her, pressing the spear on her neck just as she was about to get up. " No, stay down…" he replied gleefully.

Yuria glared at him with spite, but she knew that her situation was hopeless. Hibiki had managed to gain the upper hand in this fight, and with his weapon placed on her neck, she had no chance of fighting back. Closing her eyes, she merely replied " Fine…just make it quick…"

She was suddenly hit with intense pain when Hibiki stabbed her wounded shoulder once more just for kicks. She gritted in pain, wondering if he was going to toy with her any further, or possibly humiliate her while he slowly killed her off. However, the second he pulled his spear out from her wound, she could hear him walk away.

" What?" she mused, totally not sure what to make of it. Hibiki was now walking away, as if he had lost interest in the fight. " Where the hell are you going?!"

" Going? Who said I'm going anywhere?! I'm tired from using the Gates, and my legs hurt. I'm finding a nice spot to sit down," Hibiki replied, walking off to sit down some distance away, propping his spear on his shoulder and closing his eyes, as if falling asleep.

" Are you trying to kill me by pissing me off?!" Yuria shouted angrily, before the pain on his shoulder hit her once more from exertion, and she fell back to the ground.

" Lady, I have no reason to kill you, least not for now," Hibiki replied.

" What?!"

" You may hate me for what I did to Maki, but I don't blame you for hating me. Being a Missing-nin of the Leaf is not my problem to deal with, so I'd rather let my Leaf comrades deal with you appropriately. I did not kill Maki in cold blood. I only killed her to save my friend," Hibiki replied. " So, I'm taking this opportunity to say I am sorry…"

" You bastard! You just spared me for a dumb apology?!" Yuria demanded.

Something hit her in the face, having being tossed by Hibiki. Taking a look, she saw a scroll lying down on the side next to her, a small green one with a dragon emblem on it. Her eyes widened in shock as she saw it, as it was awfully familiar to her.

" I picked it up from her. After I read it, I understood why you two left the Leaf, and I, for one, am impressed. You still have a task to complete, and you specifically left your village to complete it. I'd rather you finish your task than die pointlessly here," Hibiki replied.

" …You spared me…for this reason?" Yuria asked.

" …I usually would not, but this time…I think I can be optimistic. I know you are not a bad shinobi per se, but perhaps with a noble, but twisted, goal. I'm not sure why you had associated with this 'organisation', perhaps just to make ends meet, but you have an eventual goal in which you intend to obtain, and which I fully support," Hibiki replied, before getting up. " See to it that it will be done. I'm rooting for you…"

He picked himself up and turned around to walk away, only to hear Yuria crying silently as he left.


	39. Chapter 38: Love

**Chapter 38: Love**

A kunoichi carried an unconscious Hiroshi on her shoulder as she moved through the plains, panting slightly as she went as his weight was fairly heavy for her. She paused, before sniffing the air slightly, sensing something. Placing Hiroshi down on the ground, she stood up and look back at where he previously came from, taking out a senbon needle from her pack.

Suzumi appeared not too long after, landing in front of her as she jumped out from one of the trees, landing on the open grassy area. She glared angrily at the kunoichi, senbon needles in her hand, while she faced her opponent. The kunoichi merely smiled at her when she arrived, as if she was welcoming an old friend.

" Suzumi, glad you could make it," the kunoichi replied.

" Yoko, hand him back!" Suzumi snarled in a voice that was unlike her.

" Back? I don't think I can. You see, we need his expertise," Yoko replied.

" You will hand my boyfriend back, or you shall wish you were never been born," Suzumi snarled back.

Yoko hopped towards where Hiroshi was propped against a tree, squatting down as she pressed the senbon needle against his neck. " Hold it, don't make any rash moves if you don't wish to paint your boyfriend into another colour. One false step, and I'll kill him," Yoko warned.

" You are bluffing…" Suzumi replied.

" Ho, you think so?" Yoko asked.

" Hiroshi only has a price on his head if he is alive. You need him alive. I doubt you would want to waste him after coming so far," Suzumi replied. " Besides, after coming so far, is this…the best tactic you can come up with?"

Yoko felt an uneasy aura seep out from Suzumi, making her feel as if she will die if she took a wrong step towards Suzumi. If anything, she was serious this time, and she will not hesitate to kill if necessary.

" Fine, have it your way…" Yoko replied.

-

Sora continued to back up from Yuki and Shin as they advanced cautiously towards her. It was something about Shin's taijutsu that scared her somehow. She could not put her hand on it. There was this special feel about it that made him deadly. Until she figured that out, she didn't dare risk facing them up front.

" What's this? A taijutsu fighter can't run from her enemies. What are you going to do, kill us with insults?!" Yuki taunted her.

As if to reply, Sora suddenly performed a backflip, her hands in motion as she formed her seals. Clasping her hand in the form of the Bird seal, she exclaimed: " Sound Release: Bloody Howl!"

In less than a split second, a supersonic blast erupted from the opening of her mouth. The blast shot forward, tearing out the earth from the ground, even rending trees into splinters. The blast left a trail of dust as it shot for over a hundred meters, ending when Sora was out of breath.

" Shin!" Yuki exclaimed in alarm, seeing him get up from the ground, bleeding slightly from his forehead.

" I'm fine…it is but a flesh wound," he answered morbidly.

" Tch!" Sora muttered. If she was but a fraction faster, or them a fraction slower, she would have nailed both of them easily, but Shin and Yuki were competent taijutsu users, so their reaction speed was decent enough to dodge Sora, not to mention she had a two to one disadvantage.

Secondly, she was unable to use her Gates to deal a decisive blow to her opponents. Opening even the first Gate would give her enough raw power and speed to overwhelm Shin and Yuki together, but it was not an option. During the previous excursion, she had sustained a lot of internal injuries. During her stay in the Grass nation, she had to undergo a few operations to recover from her injuries. Although her body was fine now, usage of the Gates would destroy her body cells, and from Suzumi's diagnosis, if she even opened the First Gate, there would be a 50% chance of her dying. Relying on the Gate to finish this battle was out of the question. She would need to do it without using her trump card.

As Shin braced himself, he saw Sora rush towards him at top speed. Just before she managed to collide into him, she did a quick side step. Shin tried to catch her as she attempted to avoid him, but her hand sprang up, and a small pile of dirt was flung from her hands, hitting his eyes. As Shin staggered back as he was blinded, Sora turned her attention towards Yuki.

" Coming at ya, bitch!" Sora howled, as her hand started to cackle with energy, before a loud reverberating sound could be heard. " Supersonic Palm Strike!"

She slammed the palm of her hand upon Yuki, who exploded into a thousand pieces, the small bits of mud flying all over the place. " Damn it, a clone. She must have hid herself when I sent out that blast," Sora muttered.

She felt a presence behind her, and spinning around, saw Shin directly behind her. She tried to swing her arm towards his head, but he managed to catch her arm, her fists just right before left temple.

_Oh shit, he caught me!_ Sora thought.

Yuki sprang out from her hiding place, from directly behind her, and it didn't take her long to close the distance between them. Sora decided to back off at this moment, and yanked her hand free, before jumping backwards. However, Yuki was cutting off her retreat, and to get pass her, she would need to parry her blow.

Only problem was her left hand refused to respond to her.

" What?!" Sora yelled.

Her left arm hung motionless by her side, as if all the nerves in her arm refused to respond. Yuki's fist shot forward, about to strike Sora on her face. Sora instantly dropped her body on the ground and rolled away. As soon as she managed to place a few meters away from Yuki and Shin, she sprang to her feet, only to feel her left arm responding to her again.

She understood what it meant. Shin had the capability to disable her nervous system with mere touch. She had heard from Hiroshi that it was technically possible to press against certain points on the body to disable the nervous system, rendering numb or unresponsive to the brain. Shin must be adept at a certain form of taijutsu to be able to neutralize her arm in such a fashion, for after all he merely caught her arm. This reminded her of the Hyuuga and the Gentle Fist fighting style, although Sora had to be thankful that unlike the Gentle Fist, Shin's style was temporary.

But she couldn't afford to think like that. Her previous escape only happened by random chance. If she was caught once more, she doubted that she could even escape death.

" Dang it, she always moves so fast. We can't seem to catch her," Yuki replied. " Let's try flanking her. You take the left, while I take the right."

Shin and Yuki moved into position quickly, wanting to push this match to an end quickly. Sora figured she might be able to last in a battle of attrition, but this was a rescue mission. She had finish her task here quickly and move off to continue her rescue. Hiroshi's fate rested upon her capabilities. Hiroshi had saved her once, even doing so much as to bring her back to life when she had forsaken it.

" Hmph, don't be so cocky!" Sora replied. " Mass Sound Distortion Clones!"

All at once, Sora's body split into five different bodies, before all of them launched themselves at Yuki and Shin. All clones were basically one body, Sora was just moving at such high speeds, and coupled with an inaudible sound wave she emitted, caused them to see multiple images at once from the after-images, along with the sound waves confusing their minds.

However, the ground beneath her erupted in a large blast, sending chucks of rock upwards. Sora gave a cry of surprise as she was tossed backwards from the force. She hit the ground, but quickly tried to regain her balance, only to feel someone grab hold of her from behind. Yuki appeared right behind her, smiling as she wrapped her hands around her chest and arms.

" You think you can restrict me?!" Sora snarled. But before she could pull herself free, Shin jumped forward and placed his hand on her chest. Sora was about to burst with anger at that point. " You perv, how dare you touch me w…"

She didn't get to finish her sentence, because she suddenly felt her strength leave her body. She gasped, before realizing that she could not feel her heartbeat, and with that, her eyes widened with fear.

" That's right. You might have figured out that Shin can disable people's nerves by mere touch. Well, this applies to any part of your body, even your heart. Sorry about this, but he can easily make your heart stop by touching your chest. Think of it as a cardiac arrest, but without the excruciating pain…" Yuki whispered.

And she was right. The blood flow in her body was halted, and although she could function, she felt as if she was being deprived of oxygen. Her body started to convulse slightly as she started to lose consciousness. She could still control her body to some degree, but her strength was strangely gone, and Yuki had pinned her so tightly that she could not use her hands to retaliate.

" I'm…dying…" Sora gasped.

" …Yes, you are…" Yuki replied, keeping her hands firmly on Sora while Shin continued to press on her chest. Sora felt like she was at her limits. A few seconds later, she would black-out, and it would all be over.

" I…"

_Death? Do I fear death? I don't think so…I've seen it countless times…heck, I've even experienced it once…or come close to…_

" …I…can't…"

'_I'll be losing the best rival I had in a while'_

'_I think you and Hiroshi are close, you just won't admit it.'_

'_I'll wait for that day where you will beat me'_

" …I…can't…"

'_Interesting. Perhaps I can teach you a trick or two with Sound techniques…'_

'_Will you go out with me?'_

" I will not die so pathetically!" Sora finally screamed, and when she did, it was as if a switch in her body was suddenly turned on.

She broke free from Yuki's grasp, overwhelming her with sheer power. Swinging both her arms in wide arcs, she smashed them into Shin and Yuki, sending them flying several meters in opposite directions. She was shrouded in a potent cloud of chakra, having opened the Gates by force. Her muscles tensed up, becoming harder than steel, and multiple veins started to bulge all over her body.

However, Sora's entire body was engulfed in excruciating pain. Suzumi wasn't joking when she said that using the Gates might kill her. Right now, she felt as if her internal organs were about to explode. No, they felt like they were already exploding at the moment. The pain was intense, and she felt like she was going insane from just trying to withstand the pain. She started to cough out blood. Wrong, it was an understatement…she was vomiting blood.

Blood started to pour out of her mouth, and it was mixed with the taste of bile, acid and a horrible stench. _Fuck, I'm screwing up my internal organs…oh well, least I'm still alive…_she thought. Despite the pain, she was still standing.

" Sorry, it's over now…" she replied.

Shin didn't see it coming, but Sora went up to him and elbowed him in the chest. The impact, along with the shock wave she passed through her body pierced through Shin's chest. Without a doubt, Sora felt the arteries and veins in his heart rupture. The blow would kill him instantly. Shin went flying, crashing into the ground some distance away.

" Shin!" Yuki exclaimed, tears in her eyes. " Why you…"

Sora didn't let her finish. Sora executed the same exact move she executed on Shin, and sent Yuki flying backwards in the opposite direction. Without wasting any time, she stopped using her Gates, and the incredible chakra surge started to die down, but the intensive pain still lingered. Dropping to her knees, she tried to catch her breath, only to hear something moving right behind her.

" …The…fuck? I thought I killed them…" Sora gasped.

She caught sight of Yuki still moving, but she paid Sora no heed. She was crawling pathetically on the ground, her arm trying to reach out to something invisible, crying as she crawled on the ground. She seemed to be gasping for something as blood poured out from her mouth, but no sound came out. This came to no surprise, as Sora figured she probably punctured both of Yuki's lungs in the attack.

She turned to look at where she was heading, and some fleeting emotion hit Sora. Yuki was trying to crawl towards where Shin lay, quiet and still. It was painful to watch Yuki crawl towards him, close to death, yet still so far away. It occurred to Sora what her motives were.

Despite the pain, Sora got up and walked to Yuki. Yuki gave a look of surprise when Sora grabbed her all of a sudden, before dragging her across the ground to where Shin lay. When she reached his body, she merely dumped Yuki on top of him. She turned to look at Shin's unmoving face, before turning to Sora and muttering something she could not hear, before passing on as well.

" …What the hell am I doing…?" Sora muttered quietly. " …Don't tell me he was the reason you left…"


	40. Chapter 39: Pure Destruction

**Chapter 39: Pure Destruction**

Ryouta merely glared at Ishikawa and Ryoku, his eyes filled with venom. The flames in his hands were burning brightly, lashing out at his surroundings with vehemence and spite. The intense fire seemed to make Ryouta's eyes glow red, as if they were facing a demon instead of a shinobi.

" You got to be kidding me…he looks pissed," Ishikawa replied.

" No doubt he is," Ryoku replied.

" I'm very pissed right now, just because you swiped my best friend from right under my nose. I'm only going to give you an offer just this once: surrender now, or I shall annihilate you into oblivion," Ryouta replied. " I'm rushing for time. If you don't answer in 10 seconds…"

Adept at ninjutsu of all elements, Ryouta could feel chakra pulsating under his feet. " Very well then, I withdraw my offer," he muttered.

Just as the earth was about to be split apart, Ryouta formed his seals in a flash. " Earth Release: Counter Earth Sealing!" he exclaimed, tapping his right foot twice on the ground. The movements stopped in an instant. The moment he executed it, something flew towards him at high speeds. He merely raised his hand, and the wind blast hit his flaming arm, burning brightly as the flame engulfed the wind.

" Your wind element is the worst type of element to go up against someone like me, Ryoku, and your earth jutsus are nothing but predictable, Ishikawa. The outcome is clear. Both of you cannot defeat me," Ryouta replied. " Do not be so cocky to think that you even have the chance of dealing a blow on me. I was not able to participate in the previous fight when I met both of you, and thus, I have yet to show you the extent of my powers."

Both Ishikawa and Ryoku leaped out from their hiding spots, executing their jutsus at once. Ryouta braced himself as he prepared for their attack. Ryoku flung an explosive note towards Ryouta, who merely raised his hand and snapped his fingers promptly, sending out a stream of fire, that exploded in a bright blast of heat as soon as it hit the explosive note. Through the smoke and dust, Ryouta spotted Ishikawa make his seals, before slamming both palms on the ground.

But Ryouta knew this was a feint. The Ishikawa was merely a clone, and was only there to serve to distract Ryouta, because he could feel something moving under the ground not too subtly, which was Ishikawa attempting to drag Ryouta into the ground using the Inner Decapitation Technique.

" Fire Release: Sky Dragon Underground Counter Technique!"

Ryouta raised his hand high above his head. The flames on his hand started to spin wildly, before burning bright blue. Slamming his fist on the ground, the area around him started to explode. The flames washed over him harmlessly, but incinerated everything else. Explosions burst out from under the ground, and Ishikawa barely made it out from the circumference of the blast, pulling out from the ground just as the blast subsided, leaving a massive smoking crater with Ryouta standing in the middle.

Three kunais shot out towards Ryouta, who merely caught it without looking at it. Ishikawa's eyes widened as the kunais in his hand started to glow brightly, not before melting away. No, that was wrong. The kunais started to meld together and take shape. It slowly elongated, forming the shape of a katana, still glowing bright orange as Ryouta held on to it.

" This guy…it's impossible…" Ishikawa gasped.

" Fire Release: Flame Slash!" Ryouta exclaimed, swiping the sword in front of him. A huge wall of flame came shooting in Ishikawa's direction. The flame was so wide Ishikawa couldn't possibly dodge it in time, and he knew from the potency of the flame it would incinerate him even if he hid behind a tree for cover. He instantly dove back into the earth, the heat licking against Ishikawa's back just as he managed to submerge himself into the earth.

" Fire Release: Explosive Geyser!"

Ryouta merely kicked his foot in the direction where Ishikawa when under the ground, which violently exploded, sending Ishikawa flying out from the earth, sending him rolling backwards as he hit the ground. " Fire Release: Spiral Dragon Slash!" he screamed, not before thrusting his sword towards a certain direction next to Ishikawa. Fire sprang forth from the tip of the katana, spinning in a spiral, smashing into the trunk of a tree he had targeted. Ryoku leaped out from behind the tree he was hiding behind just as it was immolated to ash, sending the tree toppling to the ground.

" Yo, Ryoku, this guy is off the charts," Ishikawa replied, sweating slightly due to nervousness and due to the excessive heat being given out throughout the surrounding area by all the fire, and from Ryouta himself. " I have never encountered a shinobi who could utilize fire jutsus with such ease, not to mention with such a variety in his arsenal. His flames burn with much more ferocity than normal fire, and he doesn't even use any hand seals for his jutsu. …Is this guy even human?"

" No doubt, it must be the fabled Immortal Phoenix Technique…" Ryoku replied.

" Immortal Phoenix…?"

" Noticed when he set his hands on fire earlier before the fight. I believe it allows him to execute fire jutsus at will, without even using hand seals, and to burn with more power and speed. Truly, such ferocious fighting technique…his ability is akin to a bloodline ability," Ryoku answered. " His fighting capabilities are beyond jounin level. The Phoenix of Konoha is a befitting nickname for him."

" …Maybe we should…" Ishikawa started to suggest.

" If you think you can defeat me by using water jutsus, I suggest you do not waste your time," Ryouta replied, forming a few hand seals. " Water Release: Great Cascading Dragon!"

All of a sudden, water started to collect above Ryouta, forming a large globule of clear fluids above him. The water changed form, turning into a massive dragon that dove towards Ryouta himself. He merely raised his hand, and as soon as the water hit his hands, it started to turn into steam, disappearing after a while.

Ishikawa's jaw dropped instantly. This was the first time where he really felt true fear. His opponent just executed a water jutsu, wasting his chakra, only to counter his move by using a fire jutsu, which was unheard of. Due to fire's innate weakness to water, on a chakra ratio scale, Ryouta would have to have a chakra output of 5 times more than what he initially used for the water jutsu, or more, to counter it. To calmly show them that using water alone will not affect him, not to mention burning away his chakra so carelessly just to prove a point. Ishikawa had not met an opponent who can waste his resources and still face his opponents, knowing he will win.

Ishikawa could not believe that he was facing a normal shinobi. It takes years of practice to learn elemental ninjutsu, but Ryouta has just shown that he could use all elements effectively. Ishikawa had not seen him use lightning based attacks first hand, but there was no doubt in his mind that Ryouta was fully capable, and being fully skilled, at using lightning jutsus. However, Ryouta is only 15. To be able to learn all five elements at this age was unheard of.

" …This…can't…be happening…" Ishikawa gasped.

" Looks like he was holding back previously because he was attempting to protect his friends, but now without restraint, he can fight at full power…no, that's wrong…his fighting with even more tenacity," Ryoku replied. " Truly, that capability is of a bloodline ability…I can see no other option besides that to explain why he's so good…"

" That, and I am hailed as a genius in my class. It would be hardly fitting of me to not fight at this level," Ryouta replied, raising the katana at them, the blade still glowing brightly from the heat. " This is the end…here I come!"

" We won't make it!" Ishikawa howled.

" Shut it, we just need to combine our jutsus," Ryoku replied. " Now!"

Ishikawa and Ryoku executed their jutsus at once. Ryouta paused slightly, wondering what they had up their sleeve. Chunks of rocks burst forth from the ground, not before suddenly breaking up into minute pieces, turning instantly into sand.

Ryouta immediately leaped aside as far as he could go. The thin sand wall swept past him. He wasn't sure what that was supposed to achieve, but he knew there was something in the sand that made it dangerous.

Something moved alongside him, and turning around, he spotted Ishikawa and Ryoku moving up towards his flank. He was pretty sure he didn't hear them move there, so it meant that Ishikawa probably made them move underground. Ryouta could not feel it as he could only sense Ishikawa when he was under him, or somewhere around the vicinity.

" Your movements are annoying…" Ryouta replied, forming a few seals and slamming his hand on the ground. Ishikawa thought he would be performing an earth jutsu, but strangely enough, nothing happened. He managed to catch the final seal he made. _No, not an earth jutsu…but what was it…_Ishikawa thought to himself.

Both Ishikawa and Ryoku performed their combination jutsu once more, blasting rocks out from the ground, only to turn them into sand and send it towards Ryouta. Ryouta sent a blast a fire towards the sand, but that didn't seem to stop it.

" What?!" he exclaimed.

As soon as the sand touched him, his skin started to tear off, and Ryouta realized what it was. It was a specialized jutsu where they used the minute sand particles to shave off the enemies bit by bit. The sand particles are controlled externally and is difficult to dispel. Blood started to drip from his body as his skin started to come off, leaving a bloody pulp on his entire body. Even his attire was being torn to shreds.

Ryouta merely smiled at them, before puffing into smoke.

" Shit, a shadow clone…he was trying to use the clone to figure out our technique…" Ryoku exclaimed. " But…where did he go?!"

" Below!" Ishikawa replied.

Ryouta suddenly burst out from the ground in front of them like a raging demon. His hands alight, he started to glow all of a sudden. General knowledge told Ishikawa and Ryoku that he was about to explode himself. Ishikawa thought this was impossible, but then again, Ryouta was sustaining a fire on his hand without getting burned. He figured that an explosive note would come close to doing nothing to him in this state.

" Damn it…we need to…huh?"

Ishikawa attempted to escape into the ground again, but to only find he could not enter. It then dawn on him that the ground was feeling very cold at the moment…abnormally cold.

_You have got to be kidding me! He sealed the ground with ice?! With the ice in the earth, I cannot use my earth jutsu to bypass them…but he…_Ishikawa screamed in his head.

" Sorry, I said this match was already decided…nice trick with the sand, but that was not enough to kill me!" Ryouta replied. " Fire Release: Implosion!"

Ryouta's body erupted into a brilliant blast of flame and fire, throwing Ishikawa and Ryoku backwards with full force. Landing several meters away, Ishikawa's body was hurt all over. He had aches and bruises plastered all over his body. He tried to stand up, only to hear Ryoku scream in pain.

Looking up, he saw Ryouta, covered in flames, stab Ryoku in the gut with his katana, before his entire body was immolated within a second. Ishikawa could only watch in terror as Ryoku tried to struggle to free himself, only to be consumed hungrily by the fire. It was so intense that within seconds, there wasn't even a trace of him left, not even his ash. It was as if he turned into dust and was carried away by the wind.

Ryouta merely glared at Ishikawa, who couldn't even bring himself to stand up. It was over, and Ryouta had emerged as the victor without even trying. Ishikawa knew that there was no escape this time. Not that being a missing-nin was any less dangerous, and he had his fair share of death, but this was the first time where he saw something come at him, and he knew by just looking there will be no escape this time, no matter what he did.

Ryouta walked over, his eyes as cold as winter, glaring down on him. He knew this was the end. He merely sat up, feeling the heat from the flames on Ryouta's body lick against his body. This was going to be an antagonizing death.

" Go…"

" Huh?" Ishikawa looked up in surprise.

" I said go," Ryouta replied, his flames dying down. " I didn't hold back against Ryoku since he wasn't from my village, but since you are, I am compelled to show you some compasion. Leave, and if you ever turn back, or come for my friends again, I shall make you wish you were never existed."

Ishikawa didn't need to be told twice. He ran away from that spot so fast, travelling at a speed he didn't think it was normally achievable by him.


	41. Chapter 40: Seal

**Chapter 40: Seal**

Suzumi parried Yoko's attacks as she charged at her, her hands swinging wildly all over the place as she attempted to strike her. Suzumi could only afford to back up as Yoko furiously pushed her back. Trying to obtain some breathing space, Suzumi spat a needle she kept hidden in her mouth. Yoko spotted the needle just in time, dropping her head down, allowing the needle to pass over her head harmlessly.

Drawing her leg back, Suzumi executed a sweep right at Yoko's face. In an instant, Yoko managed to cushion the impact towards her face by tucking her arms to the side of her head. Suzumi did not possess that much strength to knock her off balance, so she pushed her leg aside, and stretched her arm forward.

Suzumi gave a cry of alarm, but Yoko managed to catch her first, grabbing her neck. Throwing her weight around, Yoko managed to pin Suzumi down on the floor, with some effort. Yoko was about to stab her with a senbon needle, but all of a sudden, Suzumi's mouth started to spew thick, noxious gases from her mouth. Yoko released her grip on Suzumi and immediately retreated.

" Man, what is your mouth made of? There seems to be an infinite number of junk in that opening of yours," Yoko replied.

" Tch…" Suzumi spat. They had made no progress ever since their fight started. Hiroshi was even within her sight, but she was powerless to go and fetch him, not while Yoko was still here. She wondered how where her other comrades doing, giving a silent prayer that they were all still safe and in one piece.

" Thinking of your comrades…how typical of a medic-nin," Yoko replied.

" I worry about them nevertheless, despite me knowing that it's rather pointless," Suzumi replied, picking herself up as the gas around her dispersed.

" Pointless?" Yoko mused.

" No doubt about it. I am, after all, the weakest in our entire group. If I have not yet fallen, then the rest of my comrades are sure to be alive, or doing even better," Suzumi replied, before bracing herself, clenched fists raised towards Yoko. " Come, let's settle this."

" Heh, such confidence. Alright, we may as well," Yoko replied, biting her thumb, letting blood flow out of it. Suzumi merely watched her hand carefully, observing each and every drop of blood that dripped out of her cut. " You and me both are evenly matched. Let's settle this by using our aces: genjutsu."

" …You are on!" Suzumi replied.

Yoko suddenly started to trace a large circle in the air with her thumb, and to Suzumi's surprise, she seemed to be writing on an invisible board in front of her. Whatever it was, she started to draw out characters in mid-air, her blood hanging in front of her ominously. It suddenly occurred to Suzumi what Yoko intended to do.

" Damn!" she muttered to herself, forming her hand seals.

" Realm of Chronos..."

Saying those words softly, she snapped her fingers. The odd seal in front of Yoko which she had drawn, suddenly dispersed like a bubble popping, sending minute droplets of blood all over the place. However, all of a sudden, the droplets started to slow down in their velocity, and soon enough, they seemed to be hovering over a large area, about 30 meters in diameter, a dome surrounded by blood droplets which miraculously hung around Suzumi.

" This…this…" Suzumi gasped.

" Yes, exactly, I have mastered it…" Yoko replied. " Sorry, I could not afford to hold back. This is going to hurt, like hell. Don't think badly of me."

Yoko raised her hands, before flicking out three senbon needles. Suzumi saw three senbon needles fly towards her, and the three senbon needles hit her on her chest. She winced in pain. Her vest, and a thick cotton jacket, managed to absorb much of the blow, but the injuries still stung.

It was not as if she didn't want to avoid the attack, but she was incapable of avoiding the attack. Even though Suzumi could move her body, she seemed to be moving at an insanely slow speed. Even raising her hand as fast as she could afford took her almost 3 seconds. It wasn't that her body has slowed down, but her mind telling her so. There was no doubt about it, Yoko's genjutsu working on her.

" Sorry, you are not breaking out of this genjutsu…" Yoko replied, before drawing out several more senbon needles, before throwing them at Suzumi's direction.

Suzumi forced her body to move, but despite exerting as much force as she could, she could not move faster than the snail-like pace she was moving. The senbon needles struck her chest once more, and she staggered slightly with the pain. Yoko's genjutsu was something else. She did some visual trick with that 'blood' of hers. Suzumi had yet to determine the exact function of her methods, but if she didn't figure it out quick enough, it would cost her life, and their attempts up till now to rescue Hiroshi will be in vain.

" I thought you were better than this…oh well, it's not like I was expecting you to break free from my genjutsu anyway," Yoko replied, drawing another set of senbon needles, before flinging them at Suzumi's direction. This time, however, her mark was true. Two senbon needles found their mark at the base of Suzumi's neck. Suzumi didn't even feel it coming. Her reaction time was too slow, and blood started to seep out from her wound. She dropped to her knees, before her eyes rolled upwards and her body fell down to the ground in a heap.

Yoko didn't move from her spot just yet. It was likely that this might be a genjutsu of Suzumi, and thus Yoko was wary. Sensing her surroundings, she felt Suzumi's presence started to fade, showing that she was indeed dying. Dispelling the jutsu, Yoko waited for a while to catch her breath. Suzumi was still lying on the ground, unmoving. She was confident that Suzumi was dead, but something in her heart told her otherwise.

_Damn it, what's this feeling…? She's obviously dead…so why can't I tell my instincts otherwise?_ Yoko thought.

She looked around carefully, her eyes observing her surrounding carefully. Nothing seemed out of place, no genjutsu surrounding her, or nearby presence of anyone else. Taking a deep breath, Yoko slowly stepped up towards Suzumi's body. Blood was still seeping out from her body, so Yoko bent down to check her pulse. Her fingers moved gingerly towards Suzumi's neck, touching it ever so gently.

A hand grabbed hers all of a sudden. Yoko recoiled in shock when Suzumi suddenly got up all of a sudden, looking beside herself.

" Oh, very good, I'm impressed. I thought I faked my death pretty well, but it looks like you saw through it. Dumb move though, coming close to check on me," Suzumi replied.

Without showing any signs of hesitation, she pulled out two of the senbon needles that had pierced her neck, and slammed them down on Yoko. Only with her quick reflexes was she able to avoid being pierced, the senbon needles scraping her shoulder slightly. Yoko instantly leaped backwards, placing some distance between them.

" You…damn it…how did you…" Yoko gasped, the slight nick on her shoulder stinging slightly.

" Simple. I took the attack. Your genjutsu was interesting in the fact that I was unable to dispel it even with my capabilities. Nothing less than an A-rank or higher genjutsu can do that to me. The main trick was when you drew that blood seal. Despite my best efforts, I was totally unable to divert my eyes somewhere else, since you were doing something so conspicuous, not to mention large and flashy," Suzumi replied, panting slightly as she removed the rest of the senbon needles. " However, I did notice that you seem to be avoiding me somewhat, obvious from the way you only used senbon needles to attack while the genjutsu was in effect. Thus, I deduced that you cannot make body contact with me for some reason, least it breaks the genjutsu."

" So, I opted to use a diversion. Senbon needles, although usually painful and unfashionable, can be used as acupuncture points. I've studied enough medical arts to know where senbon needles won't kill when it hits the body. I merely adjusted my body slightly so that your aim would hit my non-vital areas, so I can play dead," Suzumi replied.

" You can't be serious…you would have easily missed and died!" Yoko exclaimed.

" No doubt, but seeing that I have no quick alternative to dispel your genjutsu, this was the best I could come up with," Suzumi replied.

" Bah!" Yoko replied, biting her thumb once more. " I'll just use it again!"

" …Tch, and I thought you'd be smarter than that," Suzumi mused. " You didn't think I would just willingly ramble about my tactics, did you?"

Yoko's eyes widened in surprise when the cut on her started to hurt, like a thousand needles prickling her body. _You've got to be kidding me? Where in the word did she get the time to lace the senbon needle with poison…_Yoko thought furiously, before a sudden thought occurred to her.

Suzumi merely grinned as she continued to stare at Yoko, despite her wounds still bleeding. Suzumi managed to channel minute signals of chakra into her body, and she managed to convert her blood into toxic enzymes using signaling pathways and proteins in her body to alter her organic structures in her blood. The moment she pulled them out of her neck, it was already laced with her own 'special' poison already.

" Bah, don't be too arrogant! This is nothing!" Yoko screamed, rushing towards her. Suzumi prepared to defend herself as Yoko swung her hand at her, but someone else caught her hand, stopping Yoko's advance.

" Huh?!" both girls exclaimed.

Right behind Yoko was Hiroshi, using his lone arm to hold onto Yoko's, and from the look on his face, he was practically ready to bite her head off. Yoko pulled her hand free, but Hiroshi's backhand came faster than she could move away, knocking her silly to the side. He sent her sprawling on the ground, before she jumped up, her lip bleeding slightly.

Hiroshi twisted his neck, and they could hear his joints cracking as he turned his neck around. " Damn, that has got to be the most uncomfortable ride I have ever experienced. Someone needs to pay for that," Hiroshi replied.

Yoko gritted her teeth. She had no idea why, but Hiroshi apparently miraculously regained consciousness, and despite having an arm missing and still recovering from his previous injuries, he still had the constitution and capability to fight effectively. Yoko knew this was a no win situation for her, and without waiting, she instantly departed the area.

" Oh well, I guess if we can avoid a fight, I think we should," Hiroshi mused, before turning back to Suzumi. " Sorry for the trouble. I'm glad…you…Suzumi, are you crying? Wait, scratch that, I can see that you are crying."

Suzumi had her head facing the ground, while tears started to drip from her eyes. Hiroshi was about to ask what was the matter, only to have Suzumi tackle him to the ground, hugging him tightly as if she never wanted to let him go, burying her face into his chest.

" Oh, Hiroshi…Hiroshi…" she muttered, sobbing his name.

" Gee, don't get all sentimental on…holy shit, you are still bleeding!" Hiroshi cried in alarm, seeing his garments stain red all of a sudden. Suzumi felt a buzz of chakra, and instantly, Hiroshi's hand was glowing slightly. He ran his hand over her wounds, slowly closing them up, taking out the senbon needles one at a time. " You should fix your injuries first before you worry about me."

Suzumi turned to look at him, looking rather pitiful with tears soaking her eyes which had apparently adopted a puppy-look. " Sorry…despite me coming to rescue you, it's still you who has to take care of me in the end," Suzumi replied, trying to rub away her tears.

Hiroshi raised his hand and stroked her cheek gently, which made her look at him curiously. He merely gave her a warm smile, no other words were necessary at this point. Suzumi's eyes started to well up with tears again, but at least this time, they were tears of happiness.

" Where are the others?" Hiroshi asked.

" …They stayed back to deal with the others…" Suzumi said.

" Oh, I see…well, I'm…not too worried," Hiroshi lied.

Suzumi held on tightly to Hiroshi. " …When you were gone, for a fleeting moment, I thought I would never see you again…" Suzumi replied. " Promise me to not disappear on me like that again…"

" Huh?" Hiroshi mused, puzzled at her request. " It wasn't my fault…"

" Promise me!" Suzumi exclaimed, looking pleadingly into his eyes.

_Girls, they can be irrational sometimes…_Hiroshi thought. He nodded his head, before picking himself up, helping Suzumi to her feet as well. He tried to say something, but Suzumi interrupted him by saying " Urm…earlier in the park…you tried to put your arm over my shoulder, didn't you?"

" Gah!" Hiroshi exclaimed in alarm, having no idea why Suzumi was bring this topic up all of a sudden, but instead of looking mad, she seemed to be blushing terribly somehow, which wasn't the reaction he was expecting her to show. " Urm…are you mad?" he asked timidly.

" …Yes, in a way," Suzumi replied.

" …Sorry…" Hiroshi apologized. " …I guess I was being a bit too forward…"

" Idiot…"

" …Huh…?"

" You can throw your arm around Sora so easily, yet you are so conserved around me. What am I, your sister? I hate to admit this, but I guess I might be frustrated, or jealous, or both," Suzumi replied, pouting. " I hate it when you act so reserved in front of me…why?"

_Holy cow, she knows…no wait, she knew. Damn it, Sora and I didn't even say a word, but she knew…girls ARE dangerous…_Hiroshi thought darkly, trying to imagine what Suzumi might do to him if he was a two-timing bastard. _Calm down, Hiroshi, there is no way in hell you are ever going to be a two-timing bastard with an angel like this._

_-  
_

" Holy shit, you look like some random guy I beat up on my worst days," Sora mused, seeing Kira carry an injured Makoto towards them. " Are you alright?"

" Yeah… good thing…I'm not…some random…flunky then…" Makoto gasped, his voice betraying the fact that he was in pain. It wasn't obvious that he was wincing in pain with his forehead protector covering his head as usual, but Sora could easily imagine he was suffering a lot.

" Look, moving around like that is only going to kill you," Hibiki replied.

" …Oh…? Here I was…wondering what was up…" Makoto mused, his voice slightly raspy, grinning slightly. " Could you be…worried?"

Hibiki narrowed his eyes and glared at him with some venom. " Oh, don't jump into conclusions too fast," he muttered.

" Oi, stop arguing you numbskulls. You idiots are forcing me to act rationally. Makoto needs medical attention. He's in no position to chase after Hiroshi in this state," Sora replied.

" …So are you…" Makoto replied.

" Huh? Come again…" Sora replied.

" …Your heatbeat…it's slightly irregular…and I can hear your internal organs…they are damaged…you seemed to have vomited some amount of blood," Makoto replied.

" Hey, now that you mention it, your face looks kinda pale," Hibiki replied, looking furious. " You moron, you used the Gate's, didn't you?! Are you looking for a death wish?! You are damn lucky you didn't kill yourself on the spot by pulling that cheap stunt!"

" Oi, I was fighting two of them, okay!? Two! One fucking more than you had," Sora snarled.

" That's because I was fighting a jounin. I was expecting you to come and back me up, but no…two brats, a real challenge to the great Sora, I bet," Hibiki sarcastically replied.

" I hate to burst your bubble, but…"

" Oi, why are we…*cough*…are we arguing…here? Have we all forgotten our objective?" Makoto asked. Hibiki and Sora turned to him, before looking aside, both of them flushing from embarrassment. " We…wait, is that Ryouta?"

All of them turned around when they heard one of the tree branches rustle slightly. Ryouta came into view, but he didn't look alarmed or in any rush, although he did look at Makoto worriedly, but didn't do anything about it since he probably deduced that Makoto will be fine despite his injuries. In fact, he even had a smile on his face.

" I take it that sucker has been taken back," Sora replied, scowling.

" No doubt," Ryouta replied. " Suzumi saw to it."

" Where are they now?" Hibiki asked.

" Up ahead. Come on, we need to get your wounds treated," Ryouta replied.

All of them moved up ahead, following Ryouta as he lead the way. Soon enough, they managed to reach a clearing, and all of them leaped off from the tree branches and onto the grassy floor. Not too far away, Hiroshi and Suzumi were standing next to each other, looking into each other's eyes intimately.

" There's that little punk ass cretin. He made us worry like hell," Sora replied, punching the palm of her hand aggressively, before walking towards them. " Someone is going to pay dearly for all the blood I have been vomiting today. Damn, I should be an anemic by now…"

" Uh…what are they doing?" Hibiki mused.

" Did they not see us? Hey, Hiroshi, Suzumi!" Ryouta called out to them. " Makoto needs…"

Ryouta didn't have the willpower to complete his sentence with the spectacle going on in front of them. Very slowly, Suzumi moved her hands, which had been perched on Hiroshi's shoulders, up towards his face, holding him gently as she raised her body towards him, tip-toeing slightly because she was shorter than him, before passionately planting her lips onto his. Hiroshi didn't resist, but accepted Suzumi's feelings wholeheartedly, returning the kiss in turn, holding her close as both lovers locked themselves together, both of them blushing ever so slightly throughout the event. The two of them were oblivious to the rest of their friends, perhaps holding back their pent up feelings for far too long to allow them to wait any further.

" …Makoto, can you wait?" Ryouta said after a while, a smile on his face.

" For them, as long as it takes," Makoto sighed.

Hibiki did a double-take when he spotted Sora crying, tears streaming down her face like an overflowing river. " …Why are you crying? It's not like it's their wedding or anything…" Hibiki replied, sighing.

" …*sob*…this is because…Suzumi is not longer a girl…she's a proud woman," Sora replied, her voice choked up.

" …Oh boy, your absurd conclusion once again leaves me baffled…remind me why I saved you again," Hibiki sighed, before shooting Kira a glance, as he could almost swore she spotted a smile on his face for just a brief flicker of a second.

_Writer's note: Finally, we have almost come to an end for Part 2. Just a few more chapters to go..._


	42. Chapter 41: Rev of the Leaf's Puppeteer

**Chapter 41: Revival of the Leaf's Puppeteer**

" Damn, it feels good to be home!" Sora exclaimed excitedly.

It took them two weeks, but when all of them were done recouperating, Hiroshi and his teammates returned to their village, followed by their Sand allies. It was a fairly slow trip, since most of them didn't want to stress Hiroshi out by moving too fast, which made Sora frustrated throughout the entire journey. Lady Kaguya and Kira saw them off at the Grass nations border, although Kira was still as serious as usual when he waved goodbye.

Nothing much has changed in the village, and everyone still went on with their daily chores. They managed not to draw too much attention from the people around them by having Hiroshi wear a cape to hide his missing limb, although a few shinobis who were either patrolling or moving around in the village seemed to notice something odd about Hiroshi despite him hiding his missing arm underneath his cape. Still, they paid him no heed, and they continued on their way without any problems.

" So, what now?" Makoto asked.

" First, we need to head towards the hospital. If anything, Hiroshi needs to get his arm fixed back as soon as possible. Leaving the wound to heal for too long will make reattaching his limb all the more impossible…" Ryouta replied, before continuing with a dejected voice. " …Not that I made it any more impossible than I could have…"

Hiroshi merely patted him on his shoulder, before laughing out heartily. " Relax, Ryouta, I'll be fixing my arm, and I'll be back on my feet in no time," Hiroshi replied confidently.

" I wonder where that confidence comes from…" Hibiki mused.

" Well, an early retirement doesn't sound too bad…" Hiroshi replied, chuckling slightly.

All of them made their way towards the hospital, which was located in the middle of the village center. Entering the main lobby, they could see that it was bustling with activity, along with a large number of young shinobis being moved all around the place, most of them wearing foreign forehead protectors.

" Hot damn! The Chuunin Select exams! I forgot they were on now! No wonder we are seeing a number of injured genins!" Sora exclaimed loudly. " Damn it, did we miss it?! I want to catch the tournaments! I cannot afford to miss watching that!"

" I don't think the third exam has started as of yet. With the large amount of injuries, I can bet that they probably finished the second, or perhaps the first, exams, where they had to do some physical fighting, and these are the ones who have been eliminated," Ryouta answered, before strangely breaking into a wide smile. " Hoh, this is interesting indeed…" he continued, chuckling in amusement.

" …What so funny?" Suzumi asked.

" I can't seem to spot any injured Leaf genin," Ryouta answered, his smile looking a little creepy now. " I guess we must be doing extremely well this year."

" Hmph, don't get your hopes up to high," Hibiki replied confidently, folding his arms. " If I remember correctly, during the year we entered, our team was the only Sand team to pass the preliminary round, and I was the one who made it to the top spot in the final tournament. We Sand-nins can be vicious enough to steal the limelight if we wish to."

Hiroshi remembered the match well, because it would easily go down into the annals of the Chuunin Select exam as one of the longest ever tournament matches, lasting for a massive total of 17 minutes and 24 seconds. Both Hibiki and Ryouta managed to make it to the final match, both of them representing their own respective villages. Hiroshi could not remember a battle between two shinobis that held such ferocity and passion before, as Ryouta and Hibiki went all out in their fight against one another for the pride of their own village. It was a grueling battle, in which Hibiki managed to emerge victorious, despite having an initial disadvantage since Ryouta's fire affinity could easily overcome Hibiki's wind element.

" Fluke victory," Hiroshi, Makoto and Suzumi muttered all at once.

" Oi! What's with the reaction I'm getting?! I'm sensing preferential treatment here!" Hibiki snarled.

To the eyes of many, it might seem that way. Ryouta's battles to reach the finals were not easy. He had to fight two elite genins from the Grass nation and the Waterfall nation, before facing of Hiroshi in the semi-finals. Hiroshi wasn't the best combatant out there, but he did give Ryouta some amount of trouble, before he lost due to Ryouta's sheer destructive capabilities. Thus, Ryouta was pretty much worn out during the finals.

Hibiki, on the other hand, had one less match to fight, and his initial match was mediocre. His second match before the finals was with Sora. She would have given him a heck of a lot of trouble during their fight if not for Sora's initial opponent, who was none other than a main family member of the Hyuuga family, Hyuuga Hanabi. Sora won her first match after a desperate struggle, but not before Hanabi managed to seal up a number of her chakra points before she lost. Thus, Sora was severely injured when she started her match with Hibiki, and their fight lasted only 10 seconds, tops.

" Hey, give the guy some due credit," Sora muttered. " We have to admit Hibiki excels at close combat. I'll give him that!"

" Sora…" Suzumi mused, wondering why Sora was being so nice to Hibiki.

" Hmm, it looks like despite your arrogance, you have enough pride to recognize my strength," Hibiki replied. " I'm impressed. I have a slightly different opinion of you now."

" Comparing Ryouta and Hibiki is akin to comparing a delicious roast turkey to a piece of shit!" Sora exclaimed, standing in front of them and crossing her arms all of a sudden.

" Huh?!"

" Ryouta is nothing but a weak-ass punk. If I were in the finals, Hibiki won't stand a chance!" Sora declared it as if it were a fact.

" You?! You didn't last more than 10 seconds with me!" Hibiki exclaimed.

" That's because I had to fight the Hyuuga in my first match…" Sora argued.

" Then by the time you fought me in the finals, if we had the chance, you'd be dead," Hibiki exclaimed, trying to kick Sora but missed by a fraction when she dodged his attack quickly. " Forget it! I will never respect you, you useless piece of trash! You only make me sound bad!"

" Guys…can we not fight here?" Hiroshi pleaded as he noticed a large number of people looking at them. " As a medic-nin, I actually work here, you know. I don't want people to have a bad impression of me by associating with you people."

-

All of them looked up after what felt like an antagonising 15 minutes in the waiting room when the door opened and a young, pink-haired kunoichi entered the room. " Alright, I've taken a look at the arm Suzumi brought back, and it has been well-preserved," the senior medic-nin replied. " However, due to rough initial treatment, I say Hiroshi's chances of restoring his arm is only about 20%."

" Urm…not entirely good odds," Suzumi mused.

" No worries, Sakura-sensei. I know a sure way to fix my arm back to normal," Hiroshi exclaimed happily.

Sakura looked very annoyed at his words. " If you say you can fix back your arm without any problems, why the hell are you here? You can darn well fix it without me helping, right?" she muttered.

" Don't be angry, sensei. I have a proposal though, that will make this operation work," Hiroshi replied.

" …Amuse me," she answered.

" First, all of you, I need you out of this room," Hiroshi replied.

" Huh? Why do we need to leave?" Sora demanded.

" Please…" Hiroshi begged.

" Screw you! Why do I…?!"

Ryouta got up and grabbed Sora forcefully by her neck, and pulled her outside. " Come on, Hiroshi has something to discuss with Sakura-sensei. I think we can all afford to wait outside," Ryouta replied, dragging a reluctant Sora with him, who kept trashing and kicking as she was taken out of the room. The rest of Hiroshi's friends exited as well, with Suzumi shooting him a worried glance before leaving.

-

" So, what do you intend to propose?" Sakura asked when all of them had left.

" Makoto, please, I beg you…" Sora pleaded, dropping to her knees in front of Makoto, bowing her head up and down. " Just this once…a favour…I will do anything you ask of me…"

" I think not," Makoto replied. " While I am capable of doing so, I dislike listening into people's private conversations….although now we are at it, I wonder what is taking Hiroshi so long?"

All of them had been waiting for over half an hour already, and yet, Hiroshi showed no sign of exiting the room as of yet. Hibiki could not phantom what kind of talk was going on in the room that might take so long, and he was getting tired of waiting.

" Hey, Suzumi…what could Hiroshi be discussing with that medic for so long?" Hibiki asked.

" I dunno. I'm thinking he's suggesting something risky…" Suzumi answered. " Perhaps some dangerous form of microsurgery to reattach his arm. He's probably discussing the risk with Sakura-sensei, if not, he only needs to decide to go on an operation or not. With the 20% chance, if he goes and is successful, the arm goes back, and if it's not, then…well…"

" Speak of the devil…" Ryouta replied, seeing the door of the waiting room open.

" Oi, what took…you…so…long…?" Sora jumped up from her seat, shouting in a loud voice which later trailed off when she saw Hiroshi.

" Sorry guys, we did the operation on the spot, so it took a while," Hiroshi replied, twisting his left arm, stretching it as he twirled it around in circles, much to the amazement of his friends. " But, all is good now. My arm is back, and I can continue on my missions in a while after I get used to it. Feels a bit funny now. I guess you can say I got used to having a limb missing."

" Oi! This doesn't make a lick of sense!" Sora demanded, not caring that her voice was tremendously loud for hospital standards. " Surgery to reattach limbs should take an extensive half a day, and recouperation after that takes three days, or more! There is no way in hell you can fix that and move around so easily in half an hour!"

" Cos I'm special…" Hiroshi replied sarcastically.

" Oh, shut it!" Sora snapped back.

" But this is unbelievable! Sakura-sensei, what did he…" Suzumi asked, only to pause when she noticed the disapproving expression Sakura had on her face. " Urm…Sakura-sensei, what's the matter?"

" …You know I do not approve of this, Hiroshi…" Sakura sighed.

" I acknowledge your concern, Sakura-sensei, but it is fated. With Ryouta cauterizing my wound, there was possibly no chance I could ever reattach my arm with the damaged nerves," Hiroshi answered seriously. " This is the only way to fix my arm, and honestly, I am in no mood to retire at a dumb age of 15."

" …It's a forbidden technique…" Sakura replied.

" Not entirely…" Hiroshi replied, grinning cheekily.

Sakura sighed and shrugged her shoulders, as if she was giving up on the argument. " It's your body, your choice. I will not debate on your personal choice. Have a good day," she replied, walking off. " …Don't lose the other arm…" Hiroshi merely waved at her and grinned while she walked off, as the rest of his teammates looked at him in shock.

" …I…I don't believe this…" Makoto replied, unable to comprehend the situation. " Your arm…it's fixed…how in the world…?"

" Hang on, forbidden technique…what in the world did you do?!" Ryouta demanded.

As a reply, Hiroshi suddenly yanked his left arm with his right hand, and it popped out from its joint. Suzumi gave a scream of terror when she saw it, before Hibiki and Makoto covered her mouth with their hands until she calmed down enough to see what was happening. At the shoulder joint, where his arm would join up with his body, was a mechanical disk that was implanted into where his arm was missing. There were gears and devices on the disk. Taking a closer look at his arm, they saw that it was none other than a well crafted puppet arm that took shape of his left arm.

" …It's…a puppet?" Ryouta gasped.

" Yes, it is," Hiroshi replied, pressing his puppet arm onto the disk, which attached back to his body with ease. " I crafted a puppet arm for myself. In fact, the reason why it is so well made is because I have made it for a while, during the rare occasion that I indeed lose my arm, it would be my replacement. It feels odd, but yeah…I'm fine with it."

" But…you altered your body…" Hibiki replied. " Damn, you think like a puppeteer…"

" I know. I've heard that some of your Sand puppeteers replace body parts lost during combat with puppet parts. It's no longer organic, but part machine, but it has its advantages. Puppet limbs, if crafted well, are more durable, sturdy, can hide hidden weapons, and are much more versatile than a normal human arm. Plus, if it's damaged, I can easily replace it again," Hiroshi replied.

Ryouta suddenly grabbed Hiroshi and slammed him on the wall, looking very vexed. Suzumi gasped in shock, and Sora and Hibiki jumped instinctively, almost wanting to stop Ryouta but were not in time. Hiroshi merely looked at Ryouta calmly while Ryouta glared back at him.

" So, that's it, huh? More power? A puppet arm is better than a normal one in terms of combat, so that's why you replaced it…with some piece of scrap metal?!" Ryouta screamed. " Why?! Why bother with this?! You'd go so far as to manipulate your own body, for power?!"

Hiroshi reacted in such a way nobody in their group expected, by punching Ryouta on his face, using his puppet arm. The blow came so fast and so quick nobody expected it, especially Ryouta. He was sent flying towards the opposite wall, crashing into it. Sora was totally taken aback by the force Hiroshi had applied, because some cracks appeared on the wall where Ryouta had smashed into, his lip bleeding slightly.

" How did that feel? It hurt, didn't it? Far better than one of my regular punches, I bet…not that you'd know anyway, since I think this is the first time I actually punched you," Hiroshi replied darkly.

Suzumi stepped in-between them, hugging Hiroshi to stop him as he suddenly advanced towards Ryouta, who slowly picked himself up. " Hiroshi, stop this! You are being mean to Ryouta! He's just concerned for your reckless decision! Even for a puppeteer, turning yourself into a puppet is frowned upon, and for good reason. That's…that's why Ryouta is angry, because of that," she replied, crying now as she saw both friends fighting.

" For such a reason?! Ryouta, you insult me!" Hiroshi exclaimed.

" Hiroshi…?" Suzumi muttered, sounding confused.

" Ryouta, do not place your mistakes on my choices. You are still thinking about the time when I lost my arm because of your carelessness, right? Get over it!" Hiroshi shouted to Ryouta, a very odd sight to see Hiroshi lecturing Ryouta. " Stop blaming yourself. I told you before, and I am telling you now again, I do not blame you for my loss. How long are you going to keep blaming yourself for my missing arm?! Get over it!"

" …I…I…" Ryouta stammered for a while, before falling silent.

Hiroshi grabbed his left arm, and held it tight. " You know why I lost this arm? This is because I believe it was worth losing! That's right, my left arm was worth less to me than you are!" Hiroshi exclaimed. " Now, with the bounty on my head, I cannot hesitate to be weak anymore. If a puppet arm can give me an edge, I'll take it. Don't be a hypocrite, damn it! If you had the choice of accepting it, you would! Don't you even dare deny it, or I will kick all your teeth out, because you know that's true!"

" Enough, Hiroshi, that's enough!" Suzumi wailed, crying loudly now as she tried to restrain Hiroshi from any more further outbursts. " Please…don't fight anymore! It hurts…it hurts me to see you fight…"

Silence hung in the air besides Suzumi's cries, as the rest of them merely looked at Hiroshi and Ryouta, who merely stared at each other without moving. People around the corridor were looking at them, disliking the noise they were making, but not wanting to interrupt them. Sora and Hibiki were more than ready to step in if things escalated any further.

" Heh…ha ha ha…bwahahahahaha!" Ryouta burst out laughing all of a sudden. Makoto and Hibiki looked at him curiously, wondering if the punch Hiroshi gave had somehow affected his head. " Kahahahah…ahahaha…ahahaha…oh this is hilarious…"

" Hilarious? No doubt. Getting your ass kicked by Hiroshi has got to be the best entertainment to fall short of me beating the living daylights out of you," Sora mumbled.

" You are right, Hiroshi. If I could sell my soul to the devil to make all of you live two hours longer, I would do it without even thinking. Here I was, thinking of stupid things, when all I was doing is merely insulting your pride as a shinobi," Ryouta replied. " I…I had been blaming myself all along…I am not as strong as you think I am, I'm not as good as you all think I am, yet…and yet, it is my innate nature to not fail your expectations…"

Hiroshi seemed to calm down a little, and Suzumi's crying stopped at this point. " …Do….do you see me as something less than human?" Hiroshi asked.

" …An absurd question. I only see a pathetic puppeteer," Ryouta answered.

Both young boys stared at each other for a while, before breaking up into loud laughter, slapping each other on their backs as if sharing a personal joke, everything from the past few seconds ago long forgotten now. Even Hibiki and Makoto were joining in the fun, laughing together with them as well, while Suzumi looked curiously at all of them, wondering what was wrong.

" Don't worry about them…girls will never ever fully understand boys…" Sora replied, patting her on her shoulder.

" …Right, if you two idiots are done fighting, I'm starving," Hibiki replied.

" No problem…Hiroshi can cook, right? He should be fit enough!" Sora remarked.

" Now look here, I was nice enough to help you avoid a civil war. The least the Leaf can do to show their gratitude is to treat me to some dinner, right?" Hibiki replied. " After all, we are staying here for a while. I'd like to eat Hiroshi's food only on the day we leave."

" I'll feed you two cucumbers when you leave, how's that for a compromise?" Sora replied, pushing her face towards Hibiki's.

" Oi, Makoto! Just say yes! I want you to say yes this time!" Hibiki replied.

" No, you are not allowed to beat her up," Makoto replied, sighing.


	43. Chapter 42: Nagato Suzumi

**Chapter 42: Nagato Suzumi**

Nagato Suzumi checked her hair in the mirror, never really fussy or self-conscious about it before, but now she was strangely irritated at the sight of one or two oddly misplaced hair strands. Her hair had grown slightly over the course since she came here over a month ago, so she allowed it to hang free from her head, although she had been spending a large amount of time trying to comb her hair into place.

She had every reason to look good today. Makoto, Hibiki and Suzumi had been granted permission to stay in the Leaf nation until the Chuunin Select Exams are over, and today was the finals, where tournament matches are held in the arena for everyone to see. As Ryouta said, the Leaf chuunins were doing obscenely well this year, with a final roster of 9 Leaf genins and one lone Sand genin in the final tournament. However, to her, the tournament wasn't that important. What was more important was that Hiroshi had asked her out for a date today, and she figured she was about to enjoy every moment of it.

Accommodation was allocated exactly like the last time, where one of the Sand-nins will stay at one of the respective Leaf-nin's home. However, this time Suzumi boldly exclaimed that she will be staying a Hiroshi's house, and nobody wanted to argue against that, especially Hiroshi. Hibiki had to reluctantly stay with Sora, much to her chagrin, since he disliked the state of Ryouta's room. Hiroshi's mom gave a surprised look when she spotted her son return with a kunoichi in tow, hand in hand as they entered the room. It then occurred to Suzumi that Hiroshi might not have mentioned their relationship together.

Suzumi decided to be bold today. She wore a sleeveless cotton vest that was slightly body hugging, which allowed her to show off her body curves to Hiroshi. However, she was still conscious of not wanting to overexpose herself to Hiroshi, so she decided to stick with long pants to cover most of her legs. She didn't bother with make-up, since Hiroshi insisted he preferred to look at her natural looks. That, and the fact that he hated the taste of lipstick.

Hiroshi was nice enough to lend Suzumi her room, and to give her privacy and safety of mind, slept on the living room couch instead. Suzumi spent the night looking through his room, observing his furniture, and even sniffing his bed which she had been sleeping on. She hated to admit it, but sleeping in his room had some sort of exciting feel to it, sort of like the feeling Sora gets when she is about to get into a fight.

All of this got Suzumi worried about their relationship. Coming from different nations, it was difficult for them to see each other. In fact, this would be their first real date in the three since years they have known each other. If anything, progress was excruciatingly slow. Makoto and Hibiki did drop hints to Suzumi to find someone else, but she could not bring herself to do so. She liked Hiroshi, ever since she had that crush on him when he first came to the Sand village three years ago. Her first impression of him was a simple, carefree guy, not overly bright, but honest and caring person. Then again, she was too embarrassed to admit her love to him at that point, and Hibiki was forced to do it for her.

Still, she was adamant that he was the one for her. He had not seen another girl, or started another relationship despite the three years she was apart from him. He was patient enough to wait for her, and that was enough of a conviction for her to wait for him as well.

Finally, after an hour, Suzumi was pretty much ready, and she told herself that she looked great in front of the mirror. Skipping out of the room, she made her way towards the living room.

" Oh, Suzumi, are you ready to leave already?" Hiroshi's mom called out from the kitchen.

" Yes, ma'am," Suzumi replied. " Where is Hiroshi?"

" Oh, he's upstairs taking a bath. He should be down shortly," his mom replied. " Would you like to have some breakfast before you leave?"

Suzumi shook her head. " No, thank you. Hiroshi and I are going to have breakfast outside," Suzumi replied.

" Alright then, perhaps when you are free, you could drop by our restaurant?" Hiroshi's mom suggested. Suzumi was then reminded that Hiroshi's parents were restaurant owners. It did pique her curiosity as to what exactly did his parents cook. " You and Hiroshi have been gone for a while, more than a month. Where did you go exactly? I was under the impression that all of you left on a short mission to help out a village. Am I mistaken?"

Suzumi was a little taken-aback with the question. Hiroshi asked Suzumi last night to not tell his mom about anything that happened. " You know how mothers are, they worry a lot…I hate to give her more problems than she already has with me," Hiroshi replied. " So…yeah, I'd appreciate it if you don't tell my mom anything. Tell her something else came up."

" …Urm, he told me not to tell you…" Suzumi answer frankly.

" Now that's refreshing. I bet he told you to lie to me about it, but you aren't exactly lying about it, are you, Suzumi?" Hiroshi's mom replied, laughing slightly. " Are you trying to get on my good side?"

" Maybe…I might have to call you mom sometime in the future," Suzumi joked.

Hiroshi's mom merely laughed, before exiting the kitchen, carrying some cups of green tea on a tray, offering Suzumi a cup which she accepted gracefully. She took a tentative sip from the cup, since it was still steaming hot, burning her tongue slightly.

" …Is it alright with you? I mean, seeing your son?" Suzumi asked.

" If I had objected to it, I would have stopped him three years ago," Hiroshi's mom answered.

" Oh, you knew?" Suzumi replied in surprise.

" Come now, kids think all their parents are ignorant or dumb. I should add that I was in love once, you know," Hiroshi's mom sighed. " It should be fairly obvious to anyone. For three years he has been sending letters to a certain girl almost every week. I have yet to even receive a letter from my own son as of now. Surely, whoever this girl is, she must have enchanted him pretty well."

Suzumi didn't really comment on it, but merely sipped her tea quietly. The conversation was becoming awkward.

" Forgive me, I didn't intend to start on such type of small talk," Hiroshi's mom apologized.

" No, it's alright…urm…" Suzumi replied.

" Well, since we are already at it, we may as well give it shot," Hiroshi's mom answered. " So, what made you attracted to him?"

" Huh?"

" Why'd you fall for him?"

" …Well, he's honest, and someone I can relate to. That, and I know that he cares for me. I love him because he is the very definition of who he is, and I like him for that," Suzumi answered, blushing.

" …How far are you in the relationship?" Hiroshi's mom asked.

" …Urm…is that really necessary?" Suzumi asked, blushing.

" …Up to you, entirely. I approve of you going out with him, but I won't approve him doing anything funny with you until both of you are 18, at the very least," Hiroshi's mom replied.

" Heh, Hiroshi's not that type…" Suzumi laughed.

" Oh, you think you know my son better than me, do you?" Hiroshi's mom asked coldly.

" Huh?!"

" Relax, girl," Hiroshi's mom replied, slapping Suzumi on her back. " I'm just joking…"

" Oh, Suzumi, you are already ready to go?" a voice called out from the back.

Suzumi turned around to see Hiroshi emerge from the bathroom. He was dressed casually, wearing a windbreaker and long, thick cotton shorts, which he still strapped his weapon holster and equipment pouch onto, least in the case of an emergency. He didn't bother to comb his hair, letting it loose like he always did. He walked up towards her and scratched his head sheepishly as he stood in front of her, looking slightly pale in comparison compared to the way Suzumi had dressed up.

" Don't keep a lady waiting…that's bad manners," Hiroshi's mom replied.

" Yeah…well, I thought the both of you might want to talk for a little bit, you know…get to know each other better," Hiroshi replied.

" Ever the witty one, huh?" she mused. " Go on, don't let this old lady keep you from having your fun."

Both Hiroshi and Suzumi merely turned to one another and smiled, before dashing out of the door, saying goodbye to Hiroshi's mom. As soon as they had their sandals on, they were ready to head off, only to be stalled by a figure standing in front of Hiroshi's front entrance.

" Yo, lovebirds," Sora replied, saluting them slightly.

" You…what are you doing here?" Hiroshi asked, clearly not pleased.

" What? Aren't you going to the Chuunin Exam finals? You can't be thinking of leaving me out, right?" Sora replied.

" Sora, you can't be this thick…"

Without waiting, Suzumi stepped up and sprayed Sora in the face with something fluid, looking as if she had hidden a perfume bottle in her hand. All of them looked curiously at Suzumi, who had a mischievous smile on her face.

" What the heck was that for?" Sora asked.

" Poison…" Suzumi replied.

" What?!" Hiroshi and Sora exclaimed loudly at the same time.

" Don't worry, it's not dangerous. The poison will temporarily paralyze your limbs temporarily. You'll be able to move in about maybe 10 minutes," Suzumi replied, brushing her hair, acting impishly all of a sudden. " Sorry, but I can't have you interrupt my date. Come on, Hiroshi. It won't stall her forever. Let's go and get lost in the crowd."

With that, she grabbed his hand and tore down the street, leaving Sora standing there like an idiot. " Oh shit, she really got me there…" Sora mused.

" Hahaha, you look like an idiot, really," someone laughed at her.

" Oi, you punks…help me!" Sora demanded.

Makoto, Ryouta and Hibiki walked out from behind one of the streets, before gathering in front of her, looking and laughing at the same time. Sora merely glared at them irritatingly. She would have jumped on them, but her body was stiff like a board. She looked like a statue that was placed in front of Hiroshi's household.

" Help you…I think not…it's not like we can do anything about the paralysis poison anyway. Besides, Suzumi did say that it will wear off after a while," Makoto replied. " I say we should go get some early breakfast, so we can easily book good seats in the arena. What do you say?"

" Agreed…we will try to save you some seats if you manage to get there in time, alright?" Ryouta replied as he waved to Sora as both Makoto and him walked away from her.

" Oh, I almost forgot…this came in today…" Ryouta replied. " Remind me to pass it to the rest of them when I have the time."

Makoto looked curiously towards Ryouta, who handed him what looked like a picture. In it was Lady Kaguya, beaming at them, while she sat next to Tayu, who apparently seemed to have woken up from her coma, still looking very weak, but having enough constitution to smile weakly and waved back at them as she lay on her bed. Kira was surprisingly absent from the picture, although he might be the one who was taking the picture. Makoto lifted his forehead protector slightly to catch a glimpse of the picture, before smiling himself.

" Well, it looks like she recovered," Makoto replied.

Sora somehow noticed that Hibiki stayed behind, but this was surely not because of kindness, obvious from the sly looking grin on his face. " What, surely, you haven't stayed behind just to look after my good looks?" she mused.

" Nope…you look as interesting as a brick wall…but you know, I haven't have my share of fun with you yet," Hibiki replied, flicking out a kunai in his hand. " I make it a point to do this to every girl I meet. Come to think of it, you'll be the first Leaf girl I'm doing this to…"

Sora's heart skipped a beat, sensing some impending danger. If she could move her body, she would instantly jumped back without hesitating. "Wait…Hibiki…what the hell…why did you take out your kunai for? This…this isn't funny you know…I'll kill you if you do anything funny to me…"

" No doubt…I'm going to have the time of my life, and if it costs me my life, I think it's entirely worth it," Hibiki replied, smiling sadistically. " I'm never going to get a girlfriend ever if I keep this up, but honestly, I don't mind. You said you hated debts, don't you? Well, for what I'm going to do to you, consider the debt of me saving your life previously null and void."

" …Wait…what the…"

Hibiki didn't give her a chance to reply. He merely waved his hand gracefully around her body, his kunai tracing light lines on her shirt, ripping the front part off, letting the front part of the shirt fall down, and exposing her chest.

" This is going to be a fun 10 minutes. How many people do you think will catch you in such a sight in the morning?" Hibiki replied teasingly, while Sora's face turned violently red

Hiroshi's mom looked towards the east side of her house curiously when she suddenly heard a shrill terrified cry of a girl she knew.

-

" Here we go," Hiroshi replied, as he brought back to their table a massively large bowl of spicy looking ramen. Suzumi's mouth watered slightly at the sight of the meal, the noodles mixed with a generous serving of beef and vegetables. Hiroshi passed her a chopstick, which she gratefully accepted.

" Why didn't you order two bowls?" Suzumi asked.

" Hmm? Oh, you know…it's much more romantic to each from a bowl," Hiroshi replied, grinning.

Suzumi merely giggled happily as they feasted on the noodles. Suzumi took several strands, before slurping them up. The ramen's flavor was rich, while the spiciness was explosive. It was no doubt a great bowl. " …Mmm…I like it," she replied.

" Of course…" Hiroshi replied " I only pick the best places to eat…still not as good as mine though…"

" Hiroshi, I can hear you from here…" the young girl behind the counter spoke to him, before going back to washing the dishes.

Hiroshi watched happily as Suzumi kept eating the noodles, slurping them up noisily. He merely smiled, impressed at her appetite. Then again, considering she has not yet reached her growth spurt, it was normal for her to eat large portions. Suzumi noticed that Hiroshi wasn't eating, but merely looking at her with some placid, contented smile on his face.

" What? Do I look that delicious? Eat up! I can't finish this all by myself!" Suzumi replied.

" Nothing…it's just…"

" Please don't say something corny like 'you look pretty today'…" Suzumi warned.

" …You…didn't put make up…" Hiroshi replied quickly.

" …I never put make-up…" Suzumi replied, giggling.

" Ah well, this is the first time I've noticed it then," he replied.

All of a sudden, Suzumi leaned forward, and kissed him on his cheeks, her slightly greasy lips rubbing on his face, but he could care less. She gave him a bright smile that made his heart jump. " Hiroshi, thank you for everything. You know that you are the dearest person in my heart," she replied. " I love you…"

Hiroshi wasn't sure whether his heart could withstand all the excitement for today. Together, they finished their meal quickly, before running off towards the arena to catch the Chuunin Select Exam matches.

_Writer's note: Very short chapter, mainly because I'm sort of ideas. The epilogue is next._


	44. Chapter 43: Yakushiji Akane

**Epilogue: Yakushiji Akane**

Akane managed to reach a small house at the outskirts of the Leaf nation, somewhere in between the Leaf nation and Grass nation border. It looked like nothing more than a run-down shack in the middle of nowhere, but within it lies an old hideout for the former S-ranked missing-nin known to all as Orochimaru. Like all of his other hideouts, they have been long abandoned, and the Leaf-nins have given up in trying to smoke out all of them, since during his course away from his home village, he seemed to have set up a large number of hideouts, and it was too much effort on the Leaf's part to find them all, considering that Orochimaru has been long defeated and his hideouts pose no threats.

Thus, left abandoned, they were excellent hiding places for missing-nins like Akane. She had not been here in a while, and despite her ties with the 'organisation', they had no idea of the hideout she had here. If anything, this hideout for her was a personal one, not one to be used for work. She cracked her neck, before walking up towards the door, and pushing it open to enter.

The room was empty, with broken furniture lying all over the place, pieces of pottery lying on the ground, as if someone had broken into a frenzy and threw all the cups and plates he or she could lay their hands on. Akane casually walked into the room, moving around in a circle. She knew the trap mechanisms of this place by heart, and the obvious way to avoid them. Reaching to the middle of the room, she knelt down and pressed on the floorboard in front of her.

A trapdoor sprang open, having been well camouflaged onto the ground floor. Peering down inside, the trapdoor lead downwards, into the rocky ground into a man-made tunnel underground. Akane slipped inside, landing on the bottom.

The underground corridor was barely lighted, with only two torches to illuminate the corridor, but Akane was used to this already. She walked down the corridor and kept going straight, since it was a fairly straightforward path. Right at the end of the corridor looked like a brightly lit room. Akane walked towards it.

All of a sudden, when she entered the room, a kunai shot towards her direction all of a sudden. Akane caught it without missing a beat, mainly because she was already expecting it already.

" Oi, oi, oi, is this how a superior treats a subordinate?!" Akane asked, grinning madly.

" I have no need for a subordinate who can't even evade such a pathetic attack," a voice replied. " Besides, you know I hate being interrupted when I take a bath."

Right in front of her, at the end of the room was a fairly large bathtub, and a faint aromatic smell could be tasted floating around the room. In it was a woman, with only her head visible to Akane. She seemed to be relaxing herself in the bathtub, not even bothering to turn around to see, or greet Akane.

" If it troubles you so much, why don't you install a shower curtain to block off the view?"Akane suggested.

" Too lazy…not worth the effort…" the woman replied. " Why don't you do it?"

" Hey, don't order me around like some…"

Akane stopped mid-sentence, before flicking out a senbon in her hand, spinning around before pressing the senbon needle at the base of the neck of the woman who just entered. The woman stopped in her tracks, before giving Akane a smile.

" Hmm, is this how you treat your comrades?" the woman asked.

" Sorry, Kaname, something smelled utterly repulsive in here, I thought it was a bitch," Akane snarled. " You know what, on second thought, I guess I was correct on thinking it was a bitch."

" That's enough," the woman in the bath replied, getting out from the bathtub. Akane could see a massive spiral like tattoo that was etched on her back, covering most of her back and chest. She grabbed a towel and dried herself quickly. " I take it that the preparations are done?"

" Most certainly…" Kaname replied, the Rock missing-nin replied, smiling.

Akane merely gave an irriated noise under her breath, before turning to her boss. " Hey, Maya, you seem to have made the spiral larger. Did you expend it?" she asked.

" Most certainly…" Maya answered coyly, before getting dressed in a second. " Come, we have someone to kill tonight. Better not keep her waiting."

_Writer's note: Thus ends the second part of this story. Thanks for reading. Will be working on part 3 as soon as I can. _


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